Aug 7, 2013
Yesterday the NBA released the schedule for the upcoming season. As always they have a ton of games that we all want to see. Pretty much all the contenders will be shown right on the big stage on television just like any other season. They got all the teams with some history behind them squaring off on nationally televised games like they should. But there is one matchup that’ll be shown on arguably the biggest day of the year by two teams that get mistaken as rivals.
I don’t know why but for some reason they are deciding to show the Miami Heat visiting the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas day. Christmas is one of the biggest days of the year and usually when the biggest games of the season are played. I just don’t see how this is a big game though because there is no history between the two teams. This matchup is a fan made rivalry more than a real one.
When have the Lakers and Heat played a meaningful game? When has a game these two teams meant anything at all? Never. The only history these two teams have is that the Lakers traded Shaq there way back in 2004 before that there’s nothing. I guess since the Lakers are always supposed to be so good (even though they’ll probably be mediocre this season) and the Heat are the best team right now, people automatically give the game some sort of importance.
Now if these two teams faced off in the Finals it would be huge, it would be the best player of the last generation (Kobe Bryant) versus the best player of this generation (LeBron James) but as the years keep on coming it seems unlikely that it will happen. Kobe and LeBron aren’t even rivals so therefore the Lakers and Heat aren’t anyway. If anybody is the Heat’s rivals it’s the Celtics, Bulls & Pacers (Knicks too for old time’s sake).
This so called rivalry is so ridiculous that I saw Laker fans rooting for the Spurs in last years Finals because they don’t like the Heat. That’s probably the dumbest logic I’ve ever heard, the Spurs are way more of a rival to the Lakers than the Heat and the Spurs swept the Lakers this year. I would think you would want the team that beat you eliminated but because of this imaginary rivalry you would rather root for the clear enemy.
I guess since the Lakers are still one of the most popular teams in the league and the Heat are everyone’s favorite team to hate this matchup on Christmas makes sense. I mean hey I’m still going to watch it anyway because that’s just what I do but remember folks the Lakers and Heat aren’t rivals.
Everick Davis Jr.
Was good though, it's me Everick Davis Jr. Born and raised in Portsmouth Virginia, I'm currently a senior at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. I watch every sport (not so much golf) but I am huge on the NBA. My favorite players right now are J.R. Smith, Russell Westbrook & Nick Young. Drinking beer and watching sports is my favorite past time and I do it year round! I used to play basketball on the regular until everyone else kept growing and I still stood at 5'6. So that's when I channeled my efforts into becoming the next Stephen A Smith or anything close to that. I currently write for "The Carolinian" newspaper in Greensboro, NC and intern for http://theurbantwist.com/ Random Fact about me, I love anime, my favorite one is One Piece! Second random fact, I got beatz! check me out http://www.reverbnation.com/ielabs
