WHERE HAVE ALL THE NBA RIVALRIES GONE?
As I watched the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Sacramento Kings last night, I found myself wondering what had happened to the intense rivalry between the two teams that existed in the early part of the decade. Even though the Kings won last night’s game, the two teams have clearly taken very different paths since 2002, the last time they met in the playoffs. Remember Robert Horry’s famous last-second three-pointer to beat the Kings in Game 4 of the 2002 NBA Western Conference Finals? How about the 2003 preseason game where Rick Fox and Doug Christie were ejected for fighting? After leaving the court, Fox confronted Christie outside the Kings locker room and continued their altercation. The anticipation and build-up to the next game between the two teams began as soon as the final buzzer for the previous game sounded. These days, I just don’t seem to get that feeling anymore. I’m not just talking about Lakers – Kings. Looking around the NBA now, there is definitely a lack of any solid,
