With Kobe Bryant making his final trip to Boston Wednesday, it gives everyone a chance to reflect and remember on some of his finest moments against the Celtics.
For most fans, the Lakers-Celtics rivalry was a great memory. The Celtics were down through most of the 1990s but we almost got an NBA Finals rematch in 2002 before Boston was eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the New Jersey Nets.
Save for that year, a generation of fans never got to witness classic Lakers-Celtics moments. During Bryant’s tenure, other rivals emerged such as the Sacramento Kings and Tracy McGrady, whose preps-to-pro journey began to peak along with Bryant’s emergence.