Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time. Johnson played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After winning a national championship with Michigan State in 1979, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, leading the team to five NBA championships during their Showtime era. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his fellow players, he retired again for four years, but returned in 1996, at age 36, to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time.
The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of the league's original eight teams, the Celtics play their home games at TD Garden, which is also the home of the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins. The Celtics are one of the most successful basketball teams in NBA history. The franchise is one of two teams with 17 NBA Championships, the other franchise being the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics currently hold the record for the most recorded wins of any NBA team.
Larry Joe Bird is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He is the only person in NBA history to be named Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Finals MVP, All-Star MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year.
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their home games at Crypto.com Arena, an arena shared with the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association, and the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA, and have won 17 NBA championships, tied with the Boston Celtics for the most in NBA history.
Donald Edmond Wahlberg Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and film producer. He is a founding member of the boy band New Kids on the Block. Outside music, he has had roles in the Saw films, Zookeeper, Dreamcatcher, The Sixth Sense, Righteous Kill, and Ransom, as well as appearing in the World War II miniseries Band of Brothers as Carwood Lipton.
Richard Preston Carlisle is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously served as head coach of the Detroit Pistons and Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, Carlisle played for the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and New Jersey Nets. He is also one of only eleven people to win an NBA championship both as a player and as a coach.
The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awarded the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, which replaced the original Walter A. Brown Trophy in 1977, though under the same name.
The Celtics–Lakers rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics and the Lakers are the two most storied franchises in the NBA, and the rivalry has been called the greatest in the NBA. The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers have met a record 12 times in the NBA Finals, with their first such meeting being in 1959. They would both go on to dominate the league in the 1960s and 1980s, facing each other in the Finals six times in the 1960s, three times in the 1980s, and twice since the year 2000.
Tyronn Jamar Lue is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He formerly served as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, helping them win their first NBA title in franchise history.
The 1987 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1986–87 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference and defending NBA champion Boston Celtics 4 games to 2. The key moment of the series was Magic Johnson's Junior sky hook in Game 4. This was the tenth time that the Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA Finals. It would be the Celtics' last Finals appearance until the two teams met in 2008.
The 1985 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1984–85 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. It featured the defending NBA champion and Eastern Conference playoff champion Boston Celtics against the Western Conference playoff champion Los Angeles Lakers.
The 1984 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1983–84 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeated the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. Celtics forward Larry Bird averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds a game during the series, earning the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP).
The 2002 NBA playoffs were the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2001–02 season. This was the final postseason that held a best-of-5 first-round series; the 2003 NBA playoffs saw those series expand to a best-of-7 format. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets 4 games to 0. Shaquille O'Neal was named NBA Finals MVP for the third straight year.
The 1989 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1988–89 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 0 in the NBA Finals. Joe Dumars was named NBA Finals MVP. The Pistons had one of the most dominant playoff runs in NBA history, finishing 15–2 with their only losses to the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals. This NBA playoffs also holds the record for the most sweeps in an entire NBA playoffs with 9 out of 15 series being decided in just 3 or 4 games.
The 2008 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2007–08 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Paul Pierce was named NBA Finals MVP.
The 1985–86 Boston Celtics season was the 40th season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They finished with the best record in the league at 67–15, including a 40–1 record at home. Those 40 home wins set an NBA record which would only be matched by the San Antonio Spurs in 2016. Widely regarded among the greatest teams in NBA history, their 67 total wins were one win shy of tying their franchise record of 68 wins set in 1972–73, and tied for seventh all-time for total wins by a team in a single season.
The Lakers–Pistons rivalry is an American professional basketball rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons. This rivalry, which was showcased three times in the NBA Finals, pitted the All-Star filled Lakers teams against the blue collar, team-first oriented Pistons squads. Despite playing the role of underdog in all three of their final round meetings with Los Angeles, Detroit enjoyed significant success against the Lakers, claiming the NBA title against them twice.
Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals is a 2010 television documentary film broadcast on HBO. The film chronicles the rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird that began with the 1979 NCAA Basketball Championship Game and lasted throughout their Hall of Fame careers in the NBA. The film makes an argument that without the massive media attention that was placed on the rivalry that Johnson and Bird had, the NBA might not have made it through the 1980s following the merger with the ABA, among other things.
The 2017 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the 2016-17 NBA season, which began on April 15, 2017 and concluded on June 12, 2017. It concluded with the Golden State Warriors defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals, their third consecutive meeting in the Finals. Kevin Durant was named the NBA Finals MVP in his first year on the team.
The 2020 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2019–20 season. The playoffs were originally scheduled to begin on April 18. However, the league suspended the season on March 11, 2020, hours after the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus.
