you know, as opponents, i do not like dwight howard or lebron james or jj reddick or even someone like derek fischer .......

but i hate jackson and bryant and it's personal.

arrogance and cockiness is one thing.
Red was arrogant and cocky - it was part of what made him great.

but jackson and bryant have that condescending "i'm above all these mundane questions about the celtics-lakers rivalry. the celtics are beneath me."   just no respect or acknowledgement for the greatest franchise in the nba.

from the post-game podium tonite after the lakers eliminated phoenix:

kobe: "i don't give a [dang] who we play"  yeah right.

jackson: "well, we always had the celtics number when i was playing for the knicks so beating them wasn't such a big deal"  oh really phil ? seems i remember playoff beatdowns when you were on the knicks in 1967, 1969 and 1974. of course, we could have added 1973 to that list if not for havlicek's shoulder injury in game 2 of that series.

the 2010 finals are not just business. they are personal, very personal. i want to see the free flowing lakers hit the brick wall that is the celtic defense. i want to see phil jackson calling desperate timeouts when his soft team cannot deal with the celtics' toughness.

i have to laugh at phil jackson and pat riley who always make a point of dropping dismissive comments regarding the celtics and again acting as if they are somehow superior to the low-brow team from boston along with Red.  as haughty as kobe, jackson and riley act, i don't see confidence behind their predictable comments - i see the insecurity from knowing deep down that they have never been what the boston celtics are in this league and they never will be.