Reverse the Curse: The 1985 NBA Finals

With the Lakers in a commanding position to win their 15th title in franchise history, I take you back 24 years to the day, when the Lakers secured their ninth and possibly sweetest NBA Championship with a dominant victory in the Boston Garden. Why was No. 9 so sweet, you ask, such an historic occasion? Because it was the first time, in nine total attempts, that the Lakers finally managed to defeat their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics, in the NBA Finals. For that reason alone, this series had the feeling of the Red Sox getting the Yankees monkey off their back. We don’t tend to think of the Lakers in the lovable losers category once occupied by the Red Sox, and we shouldn’t – the franchise has been blessed with championships from its outset. Nevertheless, throughout the 1960’s, the Celtics owned the Lakers just as the Bombers used to own Beantown. From 1959 to 1969, the Celtics and Lakers met seven times in the Finals, and the Celtics w...