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Lakers/Celtics 30 for 30

Who watched this 3 part series and what did you think? I'm older, but loved the fire and rivalry and the back and forth. Basketball will never be that way again, IMO.

Then you had the Pistons beating the flesh off anybody they played. It was a time when undercutting guys was pretty common and I'm still surprised how many stood back up.
 
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The Pistons weren't as physical as the Cetics IMO, but got noticed more for it because of MJ. Parrish clubbed Lambier and didn't even get kicked out the game.

First time I really watched the nba was when Hansen was with the Jazz and played good physical defense on Magic which was not appreciated by Magic. Hansen referred to him as Lord Magic.
 
I really enjoyed that series. I lived through it and I remembered all those players. There was even a glimpse of Ronnie Lester in a Laker's warm up jacket. For the people who thought the Warriors-Cavs finals were intense, that was nothing compared to the Lakers-Celtics.
 
There was a Magic vs Bird documentary on HBO about 5 years ago. I thought it was a little better than this one on ESPN.
 
Not surprising considering espn has to spend half the show talking about race.

I have seen a lot of the recent 3 part ESPN series and enjoyed it, but I agree, ESPN couldn't help but introduce some racial elements into it. While watching this series I "learned" that whites liked the Celtics and blacks liked the Lakers.

Who knew...I always liked the Lakers and disliked the Celtics. Maybe I am black and I didn't even know it. :)
 
I have seen a lot of the recent 3 part ESPN series and enjoyed it, but I agree, ESPN couldn't help but introduce some racial elements into it. While watching this series I "learned" that whites liked the Celtics and blacks liked the Lakers.

Who knew...I always liked the Lakers and disliked the Celtics. Maybe I am black and I didn't even know it. :)
I loathed the celtics and my genetic heritage is mostly vikings and anglo-saxons.
 
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As soon as Jordan left the NBA ... so did I ... Lakers/Celtics ... Celtics/Pistons ... Bulls/Lakers ... I haven't watched a complete NBA game in close to 20 years ... I used to be a die-hard Celtic fan ... Bird/Magic ... Kareem ...

Today ... The egos ... the hopping around from one team to the next .. the constant roster and coaching changes ... Nope ...

Edit: I should stay on topic here ... I am looking forward to watching the 30 for 30 ... Always enjoy them ... Celtics/Lakers ... definitely a topic of interest for me
 
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I have seen a lot of the recent 3 part ESPN series and enjoyed it, but I agree, ESPN couldn't help but introduce some racial elements into it. While watching this series I "learned" that whites liked the Celtics and blacks liked the Lakers.

Who knew...I always liked the Lakers and disliked the Celtics. Maybe I am black and I didn't even know it. :)
Exact same with me.
 
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As soon as Jordan left the NBA ... so did I ... Lakers/Celtics ... Celtics/Pistons ... Bulls/Lakers ... I haven't watched a complete NBA game in close to 20 years ... I used to be a die-hard Celtic fan ... Bird/Magic ... Kareem ...

Today ... The egos ... the hopping around from one team to the next .. the constant roster and coaching changes ... Nope ...

Same here. Haven't seen a whole game since Jordan with the Bulls.
 
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Not trying to offend anyone or stir up controversy, but for all of Jordan's skills and athleticism, he'd have been knocked on his ass several times during those frays. The game changed, as eras change. Jordan didn't have to deal with head hunters the way the Celts/Lakers did.

Those Celts and Lakers teams were super teams, also. HOFers abound.
 
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I usually rooted against Boston because I was a Sixers fan and Boston always seemed to get the best of them. They were in the mix in the early 80’s and finally got a title in 1983 when Moses Malone led them on a one loss playoff run including a four game sweep of the Lakers in the final. However, they couldn’t keep it up and lost in the first round of the 1984 playoffs. Wheels came off after that. As the Celtics/Lakers rivalry progressed, I started to lean more toward the Celtics, just had a huge amount of respect for their players and how they played. That is not meant to take nothing away from the Lakers, my brother’s favorite team of that time.
 
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I loved it. I spent a few of my formative years living in French Lick, and competed with and against the younger Bird boys, Jeff and Eddie. Let me throw this out there...........their Mother, Georgia, was a Saint!
 
I finally caught up with this on the DVR. The 1984 series was one of my earliest sports memories. Watching the Celtics on CBS was some of the best bonding I experienced with my Dad. The stories and characters involved are some of the best in the history of sport. But I would rather be caned than watch another second of anything narrarated by Donnie Wahlberg and Ice Cube. And I love Ice Cube - just not in this character. Wahlberg on the other hand, is an all-time douche bag. Everything about the show was great except for their dialogue, and that made it unbearable.
 
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Not trying to offend anyone or stir up controversy, but for all of Jordan's skills and athleticism, he'd have been knocked on his ass several times during those frays. The game changed, as eras change. Jordan didn't have to deal with head hunters the way the Celts/Lakers did.

Those Celts and Lakers teams were super teams, also. HOFers abound.

Jordan also had the benefit of being David Sterns golden goose.
 
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I finally caught up with this on the DVR. The 1984 series was one of my earliest sports memories. Watching the Celtics on CBS was some of the best bonding I experienced with my Dad. The stories and characters involved are some of the best in the history of sport. But I would rather be caned than watch another second of anything narrarated by Donnie Wahlberg and Ice Cube. And I love Ice Cube - just not in this character. Wahlberg on the other hand, is an all-time douche bag. Everything about the show was great except for their dialogue, and that made it unbearable.

Agree, the naration was a corny gimick.
 
Not trying to offend anyone or stir up controversy, but for all of Jordan's skills and athleticism, he'd have been knocked on his ass several times during those frays. The game changed, as eras change. Jordan didn't have to deal with head hunters the way the Celts/Lakers did.

Those Celts and Lakers teams were super teams, also. HOFers abound.

What Jordan dealt with from Detroit was every bit as physical as the Celtics-Lakers games.
 
I loved it. Im always amazed how good the Celtics, Lakers, Pistons, and Bulls were.

80s or 90s rules, teams today wouldnt stand a chance.
 
What Jordan dealt with from Detroit was every bit as physical as the Celtics-Lakers games.
Having six season tickets for the Bulls through the Jordan years, I can attest to the fact that those Detroit vs. Bulls games were, indeed, very physical.
 
I usually rooted against Boston because I was a Sixers fan and Boston always seemed to get the best of them. They were in the mix in the early 80’s and finally got a title in 1983 when Moses Malone led them on a one loss playoff run including a four game sweep of the Lakers in the final. However, they couldn’t keep it up and lost in the first round of the 1984 playoffs. Wheels came off after that. As the Celtics/Lakers rivalry progressed, I started to lean more toward the Celtics, just had a huge amount of respect for their players and how they played. That is not meant to take nothing away from the Lakers, my brother’s favorite team of that time.
I know it's an unpopular opinion, but for one year the '83 Sixers were the best team I have seen play. My memories go back to the early 70s, but in my mind they were the best. Actually the Sixers were my favorite NBA team when they had McGinnis, but that wasn't for long.
 
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I really enjoyed that series. I lived through it and I remembered all those players. There was even a glimpse of Ronnie Lester in a Laker's warm up jacket. For the people who thought the Warriors-Cavs finals were intense, that was nothing compared to the Lakers-Celtics.
Or Celtics-76ers. The 76ers often get lost in the focus on Celtics-Lakers, but 76ers-Celtics was often as contentious, if not more, than Celtics-Lakers. Besides being a conference final vs league final, it didn't have the whole Bird-v-Magic storyline. But the 76ers-Celtics series themselves were incredible.

My first favorite player was Andrew Toney, with Mo Cheeks a close second. Toney didn't get the nickname "the Boston Strangler" for no reason. He used to kill the Celtics.

In my opinion, one of the very, very best moments in NBA history was in 1983 when the Sixers were closing out Boston at the Garden and the Boston faithful, in complete unison, chanted "Beat L.A."
 
Or Celtics-76ers. The 76ers often get lost in the focus on Celtics-Lakers, but 76ers-Celtics was often as contentious, if not more, than Celtics-Lakers. Besides being a conference final vs league final, it didn't have the whole Bird-v-Magic storyline. But the 76ers-Celtics series themselves were incredible.

My first favorite player was Andrew Toney, with Mo Cheeks a close second. Toney didn't get the nickname "the Boston Strangler" for no reason. He used to kill the Celtics.

In my opinion, one of the very, very best moments in NBA history was in 1983 when the Sixers were closing out Boston at the Garden and the Boston faithful, in complete unison, chanted "Beat L.A."

Absolute pleasure reading these posts as a die hard Sixers fan. The 1983 Sixers team was so fun to watch, especially after coming up short so often in previous seasons. Moses was a beast, Dr. J could do it all, Andrew Toney, Mo Cheeks and Mark Iavaroni were just solid. Bobby Jones, Clint Richardson and Clemon Johnson taking care of business off the bench. Great stuff.
 
What Jordan dealt with from Detroit was every bit as physical as the Celtics-Lakers games.
Yeah, but the Bulls were finally able to beat the Pistons, when league officials decided to do away with Piston-style BB. Jordan could deal with it, but Scottie Pippen was nearly useless against the Pistons (and Rodman) until the change.
 
Yeah, but the Bulls were finally able to beat the Pistons, when league officials decided to do away with Piston-style BB. Jordan could deal with it, but Scottie Pippen was nearly useless against the Pistons (and Rodman) until the change.

I dont rember it being cracked down on. Maybe im forgetting something.

More like the rest of the leauge became more physical.

The 90s were worse than the 80s, it was basically one long continuous holding foul for 10 + years. .
 
Absolute pleasure reading these posts as a die hard Sixers fan. The 1983 Sixers team was so fun to watch, especially after coming up short so often in previous seasons. Moses was a beast, Dr. J could do it all, Andrew Toney, Mo Cheeks and Mark Iavaroni were just solid. Bobby Jones, Clint Richardson and Clemon Johnson taking care of business off the bench. Great stuff.
81 and 82 were fun, too. Caldwell Jones was a nice player, and Darryl Dawkins was an unreal talent, and entertaining as hell to watch. Mo Cheeks rookie year, I think 79, they went to conference finals and played San Antonio (George Gervin). Doug Collins was the 2-guard on that team, was injured in the playoffs, Sixers lost I think in 6. But Mo Cheeks as a rookie was a blur.

More and more early- to mid-80s games are showing up on YouTube.

The Andrew Toney jab step was something everybody was copying.
 
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How about those games in the early 80's being on tape delay? You'd watch the news at 10:00, and when the sports would come on, they'd tell you to turn away as they were going to tell you the score of the 76er/Celtic game. It was so hard to not see the score. Then you'd watch the game into the weeee hours of the night. Tape Delay..............oh, the good old days of youth!
 
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Not surprising considering espn has to spend half the show talking about race.

Do you not remember the 80's Celtics/Lakers rivalry? It was almost entirely about race. Spending half the show talking about undersold the racial aspect.
 
Dr J was MJ before MJ. And I mean that with respect to all parties. He was that electric.

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Do you not remember the 80's Celtics/Lakers rivalry? It was almost entirely about race. Spending half the show talking about undersold the racial aspect.

Almost entirely? It was mostly not about basketball?

Could have fooled me. Im white and grew up around that time and rooted for the Lakers. Maybe it was different for you.
 
Almost entirely? It was mostly not about basketball?

Could have fooled me. Im white and grew up around that time and rooted for the Lakers. Maybe it was different for you.

It wasn't me, it was the players (other than Bird evidently), it was the fans of both teams, it was the media. It was a massive deal at the time, even before the whole Rodman/Thomas/Bird thing happened.
 
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