Boston has ruled the Celtics-Lakers rivalry

The Boston Celtics vs. the Los Angeles Lakers – those words send chills down the spine of millions of NBA fans. It’s a rivalry that’s been going on for decades, and the latest chapter is coming up tonight on national TV in the U.S and channels around the globe.

Boston-LA is often called the greatest rivalry in sports, and in many ways that’s true. The two franchises have combined to win 35 championships in the league’s 78 seasons. (We’ll do the math for you: that’s 44.87 percent of all the titles.) Both franchises have almost always had the brightest star power, with Hall of Famers galore throughout their history.

If they should meet in this year’s Finals, there will be squeals of delight in the NBA and ABC Television headquarters. The rest of the sports world might come to a standstill. That’s how compelling it would be.

It may be the most famous rivalry in sports, but one side has a clear advantage head-to-head.

A quick look at how it all began reveals that Celtics-Lakers wasn’t a rivalry at first. The Celtics were founded in 1946 but didn’t even win one playoff series until their seventh season. Meanwhile, the Lakers were founded in 1948 in Minneapolis (where their nickname made sense), and dominated the early era of the league. Led by George Mikan, the NBA’s first dominant big man, the Lakers were champions in five of the first six seasons.

In the 1950s, the situation began to change. The Celtics obtained the league’s first “small man” superstar in Bob Cousy, who would go on to win the Most Valuable Player award. And on draft day in 1956, they acquired Bill Russell as well as Tommy Heinsohn and KC Jones, all of them future Hall of Famers and franchise icons.

In 1958, the Lakers drafted superstar Elgin Baylor, an immediate difference-maker who won Rookie of the Year by averaging 25 points and 15 rebounds. And that season is when the rivalry began. The Lakers advanced to the Finals for the first time since the Mikan era, where they faced the Celtics, who were seeking their second title after breaking through in 1957. The rivalry began pretty well for Boston, which swept Minneapolis 4-0.

Over the years, many of the NBA’s most iconic players played for the two franchises, which helped the rivalry become red hot. Boston has featured superstars such as Sam Jones, John Havlicek, Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. LA boasts all-time greats such as Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. And now it’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown vs. LeBron James and Luka Doncic.

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With all that said…

LA fans today like to think the Lakers have dominated the rivalry, but a look at the actual historical results shows otherwise. So here are some fun facts about the competition.

Celtics vs. Lakers all-time head-to-head results:

NBA Finals

• Finals won against the other: Boston 9, LA 3
• Playoff games won: Boston 43, LA 31
• Bill Russell teams vs. the Lakers: 7-0
• Elgin Baylor teams vs. the Celtics: 0-7
• Jerry West teams vs. the Celtics: 0-6
• Magic/Kareem teams vs. Bird/Parish/McHale teams: 2-1 (okay, one for LA)
• Pierce/Garnett teams vs. Kobe teams: 1-1
• Overall titles: Boston 18, Los Angeles 12, Minneapolis 5

Regular season

• Games won: Boston 166, LA 135
• In LeBron vs. the Jays era: Boston 7, Lakers 6

Random

• The Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960 and lost eight straight Finals appearances (seven to Boston). They finally won a title in 1972 versus the New York Knicks – but to do that they needed to be coached by Bill Sharman and his assistant KC Jones, two all-time great Celtics.
• The franchises have played five Game 7s in the Finals. The Celtics won four of those games: 1962, 1966, 1969 (in LA) and 1984; the Lakers won in 2010.
• In the 14 seasons since winning in 2010, the Lakers have won one more title, in the COVID bubble of the 2020 season. They’ve missed the playoffs seven times, been in the Play-In Tournament three of the last four years, and except for 2020, have won just two playoff series.
• During those same 14 years, the Celtics have won one title – they are the current NBA champions. (You knew that, but it feels good to say it anyway.) They missed the playoffs once. They’ve qualified for the Eastern Conference Finals six times and the NBA Finals twice. They’ve won 19 playoff series.
• One more tidbit: the Celtics have the most regular season wins among all NBA franchises: 3,679. The Lakers have won 3,590 games.

Photo by Grace Beal/NBAE via Getty Images

Here’s the bottom line: Lakers fans will certainly disagree, but since this site is called CelticsBlog, we’re saying that these facts prove it conclusively. The Boston Celtics are the NBA’s best-ever franchise, and they hold a clear advantage in the Boston-LA rivalry.

Now, let’s see what happens tonight.

Sources: Basketball Reference and Land of Basketball websites