Part of what proves so addictive about sports is the opportunity to watch heated rivals display their disdain for each other. No matter the pastime, observers expect for bitter combatants to give 100 percent to their goal of downing their despised foes, and they often come away from the duels having seen masterpieces. Owing to their 12 meetings in the NBA Finals, along with nearly 300 regular season tilts, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers have forged one of the most prestigious matchups in professional sports and have given the game of basketball some of its best moments and, arguably, its greatest performers. The quest for cash being what it is, though, the NBA Store chose to hawk a Celtics-themed St. Patrick’s Day T-shirt bearing the Lakers’ name, logo and date the club entered the Basketball Association of America—soon to become today’s National Basketball Association—as the Minneapolis Lakers.
NBA store selling weirdest Celtics-infused Lakers t-shirt.https://t.co/QW9A5dqkdQ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 23, 2018
Visitors to the website will notice that each NBA franchise finds itself represented on a similar garment, and certain end-users will definitely cringe over a few of them, notably anyone who backs the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers, the Beantown bunch’s most common (and victimized) opponents. Clutchpoints.com points out that since every organization is the subject of a top, nobody should see an immediate reason to balk over the Lakers’ inclusion, but it also acknowledges how the shamrock’s connection to the Celtics, who have earned nine of their 17 league championships at the California club’s expense, could make Lakers’ supporters cringe.
“It’s just very awkward, to say the least, that the Lakers have the Celtics’ colors with their merchandise,” the site offers, an observation that sounds particularly astute given that the latter is only a half-game back of the Toronto Raptors for first place in the Eastern Conference and the former squad is seven games out of the last postseason spot in the Western Conference. Looking at this matter a bit more, one could easily say that it is no big deal that the online merchandise provider is marketing a Lakers’ T-shirt that features a symbol synonymous with a team that has broken their fans’ hearts so many times, as the chance to show off pride in the Lakers while also conveying esteem for St. Patrick’s Day should matter more.
While that may be so, Promo Marketing is going to play devil’s advocate here and say it would be a tough sell to compel us to buy this one regardless of bloodlines if the Lakers were our obsession. We do hold the Philadelphia Flyers in high regard, so giving a nod to the Lakers/Celtics combination, if we liked the Lake Show, would be the equivalent of accepting a garment that meshes the Pittsburgh Penguins and our hockey heroes together as a way to show Pennsylvania pride. In other words, it ain’t happening, everyone! With 18 days until St. Patrick’s Day, though, Lakers’ buffs might put style over allegiance and buy the NBA Store product. More power to those folks.
