The Lakers are my 2nd favorite team. I am only 18 and I don't have the same level of hate for the Lakers as most other fans. I never really understood why we hate the Lakers so much. I know we played them a lot in the '80s and there were some chippy games, but is that all?
It goes back to before then even. The Lakers and Celtics had some great battles in the Finals. They played each other 7 times from 1959-1969, with the Celts winning all of them. There were absolute battles though. Red hated the Lakers and took extra joy in beating them.
There was the "blue collar" Boston vs. The Glitzy LA thing too. The NBA is much more homogenized now, but if these two met in the Finals I think you'd start to see some of the old venom come alive again.
1968-69 Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers 4-3
1967-68 Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers 4-21966-67 Philadelphia 76ers San Francisco Warriors 4-2
1965-66 Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers 4-3
1964-65 Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers 4-11963-64 Boston Celtics San Francisco Warriors 4-1
1962-63 Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers 4-2
1961-62 Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers 4-31960-61 Boston Celtics St. Louis Hawks 4-1
1959-60 Boston Celtics St. Louis Hawks 4-3
1958-59 Boston Celtics Minneapolis Lakers 4-0