Mar. 16, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash during game against the Detroit Pistons at the US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Pistons 109-101. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Steve Nash did everything Phoenix asked of him.  He didn’t demand a trade and he played hard for a team he knew could not realistically contend.

The same may not be true of his new team.

The Lakers have announced that they will send two first round picks and two second round picks to Phoenix in exchange for the 38 year old two time MVP.

Steve Nash may be just what the Lakers have needed.  Since moving away from the triangle offense following the departure of head coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers have struggled to find an identity with a traditional point guard.  The Lakers traded for Ramon Sessions last year at the trade deadline, but it just wasn’t enough.  With Kobe Bryant aging, the Lakers need a traditional point guard to allow Kobe to relax and play more off the ball.  Bryant can still create a lot of plays, but Nash will create even more.

Steve Nash may be just what Andrew Bynum has needed to kick his career into high gear.  Nash made Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire a premier force in the league when they played together in Phoenix, and he may be able to do just the same for Bynum.  Bynum has the tools and skill set to finish a lot of easy baskets, baskets which Nash can easily set up and facilitate.  It won’t hurt that Pau Gasol will still be lurking, too, another capable passer and a good set of hands to receive Nash’s passes.  Nash will enhance the Lakers bigs and make the team that much stronger.

The “Nash effect” will run deep on the team and his skills will shape the identity of the team and should allow the Lakers to return to contention.  It’s not often that teams are willing to give up four draft picks to land a 38 year old, but Nash is no ordinary 38 year old.  He can’t play forever, but he should be able to string together three more quality seasons and retire on top.  The Lakers are counting on it.

 Sunday, January 31st, 2010

The Jungle – Boston, MA

3:30 PM ET Tip

View on: ABC

I will start off by saying there will be no lack of emotion to this game. If the Celtics take the lead,  you better believe they will not stop until that lead is as high as they can get it. You won’t see any 3rd or 4th quarter collapses today. If there were 1 way to turn around the previous 2 losses this past week that were handed to the Celtics, it would be beating the Lakers at home. Not on the road, but at home. There would be nothing to lift the spirts of the teams / fans than to celebrate a victory over LA. That would be A) a confidence builder and B) a step back in the right direction. Expect the Garden to be loud, and expect the Celtics to fight with all they’ve got.

The Lakers come in with the SECOND best record, just behind the Cavs. As you can tell, this is going to be a biased Preview, but then again you are on a biased site. We are not ESPN, Laker fan. I just really hope we don’t see Kobe limping around the court after his little “injury” the other night he received by playing the 76ers. Or maybe we will see him grab his finger from that huge injury he had about a month ago that he had such a strong fight, and determination to battle through games. No but really, what I do want to see is the Celtics beating the crap out of the Lakers, and watching Kobe suddenly turn on his team mates. He seems to be very quick at that. When all is going good he praises his team and this in that. Then when things go bad, its not his fault, its everyone elses. I want to see that side of Kobe today, for if we do, theh Celtics are handing it to the Lakers.

Do I expect the Celtics to win, after their past 2 performances? You bet. Not to make excuses or anything, but the Celtics won the game in Orlando, looked past the Hawks because all they really cared about was this matchup, and will come in focused to todays game. Hopefully the Lakers are set to get a taste of what they are to get an entire platter of come June.

Since I tend to work my Zen, or Xzen, or Xen, or however it is you spell it or whatever it is, I won’t even begin to try and make a prediction as to what the outcome of this game will be. What I do know is, the Lakers have not yet been tested in the atmosphere they will walk into tomorrow. In fact, they have not been tested in a place like what they will see tomorrow in probably about a year. I’m not talking just the fans, but as well the level of intensity and what rides on this game. Of course this win means much more to the Celtics than it does the Lakers. But guess what? The Celtics said that same thing last year and it turns out those 2 losses to the Lakers meant a whole lot more than we had hoped. Specifically, the loss to the lakers on Christmas was like a thorn in the Celtics butt. That was the end of their winning streak, and they struggled mightly directly after that.

When all is said and done, yes it is a regular season game, and yes it only counts for 1 win or loss, just like it would if the Celtics were to play the New Jersey Nets. All of that is very true, yet this isn’t about the win or loss anymore. It is now about the mentality of the fans / team as we begin to look forward. The Hawks, and Magic games mean nothing anymore. This game is the ultimate measuring stick for the Celtics because without question, the Lakers are at the top rung. We’ll look for the Celtics to knock em down a peg and begin to get a glimpse at what it is exactly that they are capable of.

(All Pictures via my.nba.com)

As I was writing an article on Bleacher Report titled “Celtics and Lakers Reborn Rivalry Has Only Just Begun“, I began to think, “Is there really any rivalry in professional sports that tops this?” I won’t even get into college sports with Duke vs. UNC because I dont really do the research on all of that stuff to know the history and how many championships each team has or what not. So I’m talking professional sports, the 3 major sports of Baketball, Football, and Baseball.

For baseball, without question the rivalry is Red Sox vs. Yankees. For football, the best I could think of was either Patriots vs. Colts, Ravens vs. Steelers, or Giants vs. Cowboys. The problem with those is that I had to think. In the NBA, you don’t have to think. The top rivalry is Lakers vs. Celtics, plain and simple. Now how do these sports match up with each other in terms of which is the biggest rivalry?

As Celtics, or Lakers, or NBA fans, whoever is reading this, you would question if there is really even a need to create this post. No doubt, the answer is clear, and it is Lakers vs. Celtics. My opinion of why it is better than Red Sox vs. Yankees is this: They play each other way too much. Over the course of the season they play each other 19 TIMES. That is just the regular season, now bring in the post season where they are likely to play in a series of atleast 5 games, and now they have played each other 24 TIMES. Sometimes they will play each other two seperate times in two seperate weeks, its like come on already this is getting old and I am not even excited for it anymore. Then when they do play each other in the playoffs, it isn’t for all the marbles. Now sure it is always nice to beat the Yankees in the playoffs, but the Sox still have another series.

For the NFL, it seems like they maybe have too few games against one another. In football they move from week to week fairly easily. It is also a league in which one team from one league, usually does not go to the superbowl in back to back years, therefore making it difficult to get chippy with the other league. Divisional rivalries are always fun, but they are just not as over bearing as a Red Sox vs Yankees or Lakers vs. Celtics matchup. I don’t know if there is anyone who would disagree with me on this or not, but I can’t see any extreme extreme rivalries in the NFL.

Where Boston and LA mix it up is where they play each other the perfect amount of times. Although the Cavs and Celtics have gained somewhat of a competition with one another, the 4 games they play in a year seems to make the others a little less important. The Celtics and Lakers, however, only play each other once at home, and once on the road. That makes the one home game for each team extremely huge. Then when they do play in the playoffs, it is for everything. Both teams are going at it for the championship, and nothing less. Now put in how the Celtics have 17 championships and the Lakers hold 15, and they are also battling for those bragging rights. Nevermind how some of those championships came in head to head matchups.

When all is said and done, nothing compares to these two teams going at it. Like I said in my post on bleacher report, now that both teams are set up for the future, this will only get better than it currently is right now.

Photos Via (Globe Staff Photo / Barry Chin)