The City of Boston needed the 2008 NBA Championship more than Los Angeles did

Tonight the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers in game 6 of the NBA Finals to win the 2008 NBA Championship. The city of Boston really needed it! Not that the city of Los Angeles would not have rather won it all but when you look at a city that was crying so desperately for success, it was Boston.

It was expected in the 80's for the Lakers and Celtics to be two of the elite teams in the league and they always were. When Magic Johnson left the Lakers after the 1990-1991 season the Lakers still had a winning season the next season by winning 43 games. Not a great season but a terrific season for a team that was all of a sudden going to try to unsuspectingly rebuild after the news of Magic Johnson. The next two seasons were rare ones for the Lakers franchise. They won 39 games the next season and then won 33 the next. It was the first time the Lakers finished under .500 in 17 years, it had not happened since 1975! In the 1994-1995 season and the next couple of years the Lakers never won a championship or anything but became one of the top teams in the league. The Lakers were full of young talent with a team of Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Cedric Ceballos, Vlade Divac and Eldin Campell. They became known as the Lake Show and posted very good regular season records winning 48 games in 94-95 and 53 games in 95-96. Then in the 96-97 season Shaq O'Neal came to the Lakers and then a rookie named Kobe Bryant appeared and the Lakers enjoyed even better seasons than the previous two. The first three seasons after Shaq came to L.A. the Lakers were always an elite team in the league and even won 61 games in 97-98 but could not win a title. Then in 2000 after winning 67 regular season games the Lakers won the NBA Championship. The next two years completed the Lakers threepeat as NBA Champions. The next two years the Lakers enjoyed fine seasons but could not win the NBA Championship. The real shocker was in the 03-04 season when the Lakers had four future hall of famers on their team. Shaq, Kobe, Payton and Karl Malone would be shocked in the NBA Finals by the Detroit Pistons. That was also the last year O'Neal spent as a Laker before going to the Miami Heat. Kobe Bryant would now try to carry the team alone without Shaq but the Lakers only won 34 games the next season. In 05-06 the Lakers won 45 games and then 42 in 06-07. Then in 07-08 we all know how they won the battle of the tough Western Conference and made it to the finals. Overall since Showtime ended and Magic Johnson left, the Lakers have still enjoyed great basketball and have been one of the best franchises in the league.

Now let's look at the Boston Celtics. When Larry Bird retired after the 1991 -1992 season the Celtics won 48 games the next season, not bad. The following seasons they won 32, 35, 33 and then in the 1996-1997 season only 15 games. Yes, they went 15-67 that season. Quite an embarrassment for one of the top franchises that was so used of winning through out NBA history. In 97-98 they won 36 games, an improvement. Then in 98-99 a talented kid named Paul Pierce joined the Celtics but they only went 19-31 in the strike shortened season. The next seasons they won 35 games and then 36. Starting in 01-02 they started making the playoffs but were never really a threat to anyone for the NBA title. They won 49 in 01-02 (not bad), 44, 36 and 45 the following seasons. Then in 05-06 they won 33 games, in 06-07 only 24 games were won and the Celtics just seemed like they would never be that proud franchise they once were ever again. Overall since Larry Bird left, the city of Boston had nothing to cheer about unlike the Lakers who constantly enjoyed success.

Then in 07-08 the Celtics had a roster of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to help out Paul Pierce. Three great players on one team for Doc Rivers to coach. They were the favorites to win the NBA Championship from training camp and they did it by becoming the 2007-2008 NBA Champions after winning 66 games in the regular season.

I'm telling you - the city of Boston really needed this championship more than Los Angeles. It was 16 or 17 years of bad basketball in Boston. Hats off to the 2007-2008 Boston Celtics! They made a once proud city proud one more time.