With a Game 1 victory over the Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals, the Celtics stand just three wins away from an 18th championship. That also means the Celtics are three wins away from passing their fiercest rival, the Lakers, for the most titles in league history.
Of course, the storied rivalry between Boston and Los Angeles dates well back into the early days of the NBA when many of the game’s greats played for the two franchises. However, time hasn’t exactly healed the friction between the two organizations and fanbases, as evidenced by recent comments made by former Celtics great Cedric Maxwell.
Maxwell, who won two titles in Boston as well as the 1981 Finals MVP, recently spoke to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst about what it would mean for the franchise to beat the Warriors and surpass the Lakers for the league’s all-time championship record.
He also sent a pointed message to his old rival and former Lakers great James Worthy.
“It always means everything when you’re going up against the Lakers,” Maxwell said. “They’re supposedly tied with us. People say they’re the standard-bearer of the NBA but the Celtics have been that since the start. And James Worthy, after we win this championship, I want you to smell our ass as we’re going by.”
The Lakers just recently matched the Celtics with 17 titles when LeBron James and Anthony Davis powered Los Angeles to a championship during the NBA’s bubble playoffs in 2020. However, there’s still some dispute, typically from the franchise’s critics, over whether or not all of those rings should count considering the first five Lakers championships came when the team was still in Minneapolis.
Legitimate titles or not, Los Angeles doesn’t have a chance to add to its storied franchise history this season, but Boston does. The Celtics took a 1–0 advantage over the Warriors with a come-from-behind victory on Thursday and will seek to take a two-game lead in the series before the weekend is out.
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