In the past, these Lakers Celtics NBA Finals contests have went so far as to divide the country with whites and conservatives cheering for the Celtics because Larry Bird played for them, and blacks and hipsters rooting for the Lakers.
Today, Doc Rivers, who's black, is the coach of the Celtics, and all of their star players are black. The Celtics have the spice and the swagger. The Lakers, by contrast, have the Zen Master that is Phil Jackson coaching them in the NBA Finals for the third straight year, and has reached the NBA Finals remarkable 13 times.
Phil Jackson has learned a thing or three along this remarkable path of success; something the Celtics' Doc Rivers and the Celtics team should learn. When to talk. For the Lakers, Phil Jackson does the talking during The Finals; for the Celtics, it's everyone from Doc Rivers to the water boy. The Celtics talk too much.
Take Ramona Shelburne's ESPN article from LA and Rachel Nichols's TV segment. The Celtics, in responding to Jackson's statement that the Celtics play a smack down game, offered Rivers view, Ray Allen's view, and Kevin Garnett's view.
Then there was the Celtics' Paul Pierce, who offered this blast:
I really don't have no friends on the Lakers. I don't know who on this Boston team does. So it's going to be interesting. I'm not going to say it's going to come to blows, but it's definitely going to get fiery and it's going to get real competitive.
The Boston Celtics have done a lot of talking over the course of this week. What the Celtics need to do is shut up and play basketball.
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