since the threads continue and the arguments rage on, I thought I'd put out a small capsule on why the Celtics are the superior franchise when compared to the Lakers...

All Time Records

at first glance the nod would seem to go to the Lakers, who have the most victories all time (3125 and a .620 winning percentage)....the Celtics are second with 3067 wins (.595 percentage)....but then compare the records head to head....the Celtics have won 153 of the 276 contests against the Lakers...that's a winning percentage of .554 compared to the Lakers .445

Finals Records

the Lakers have been to the most Finals in league history (31 compared to Boston's 21 appearances)......since they come from different conferences it is difficult to get a read on the strength of conference and schedule...so let's take a look at how each team has fared...

the Lakers have a record of 16-15 (.516 winning percentage)....since moving to Los Angeles they are 11-14 (.440)

the Celtics are 17-4 (809 winning percentage)

when playing any team not named the Boston Celtics, the Lakers are 13-6 (.684 winning percentage).............however, when facing the Celtics they are a dismal 3-9.......the Celtics have historically dominated the Lakers with a winning percentage of .750 vs .250

Simply put, be it regular season or head to head for the league championship, the Celtics have been the dominant franchise...

Historical Significance

the Celtics were the first team to bring in a black player (Chuck Cooper in 1950)

Red Auerbach was the first coach to field an all black starting five

Bill Russell was the first African American head coach in American team sports' history....the NBA Final's MVP award was named after him in 2009

I believe that the Celtics have the most Hall of Fame players in league history

Red Auerbach has the most championships among NBA coaches who won titles for only one franchise (9)....Pat Riley and Phil Jackson combined to win 9 titles with the Lakers....and consider that Red stepped down at the young age of 49....the Coach of the Year award was named the Red Auerbach trophy in 1967...Red is credited as having developed the concept of the "Sixth Man"....he also acted as chief scout and virtually built the Celtic dynasty single handedly ....he went on to become the GM and, later, President of the Celtics...

In ranking these two franchises, and adding up these accomplishments, especially Boston's dominance head to head, one would have to give the overall nod to the Celtics as the league's greatest franchise...

fantastic post Duke4. Nice to be reminded this is a Celtic Forum.

Sweet

yes, this is a Celtic forum, so I put that out there for some of the younger fans who might not be in tune with our history....the Lakers are clearly a close second but, even if (and when) they tie our record of 17 titles, they will have to be ranked behind us when comparing the teams head to head.... when the argument is which franchise is to be ranked #1, this is usually the tie breaker....we have many great Laker fans that post intelligent opinions in this forum, some of whom I have met and consider friends...the trolls seem to be younger (and/or "front runners") who similarly probably lack an historic viewpoint....just doing my best to preserve the integrity of the discussion

In Response to Re: Celtic Dominance:

Take a deep breath and exhale as you blow the dust off when reading about Boston's history and successes.

Please be assured Duke4 that should I need these statistical records to again remind blowheart obnoxious Laker trolls I have copyed and pasted them in a folder and should I use them again in another post, rather than blatantly plagiaizing your post, I will identify you as the author.

the Celts lose game 7 of this year's ECF on the road.....meanwhile in the last two seasons the Lakers have been embarrassed by going 1-8 in their season ending series' losses.....imagine if KG hadn't gone down for the season when the Celts were dominating the league again in 2008/09...?  .....this has been a great five year run and Danny just reloaded and made the team younger almost overnight....nice..!!

In another discussion, a Laker fan said there are many more Laker fans than Celtic fans and the main reason is that that we have only won one(1) title in 25 years.  Hmmm, to me that would mean that since LA has more recent titles, the fans are much more "fair weather" fans rather than, perhaps, sticking with a team irrespective of its performance.

Regarding our 1 title in 25 years, ALL of our titles are in Boston while the Lakers claim 5 from Minneapolis from 1949-1952 and their other 11 from 1972-2010 in tinsel town.

Laker NBA Championships (16)    
1949 1950 1952 1953 1954 1972 1980 1982 1985 1987 1988 2000 2001 2002 2009 2010

Ah, yes, head to head 12  NBA finals...Boston 9-Lakers 3

Year    Winner    Series
1959    Boston Celtics    4–0
1962    Boston Celtics    4–3
1963    Boston Celtics    4–2
1965    Boston Celtics    4–1
1966    Boston Celtics    4–3
1968    Boston Celtics    4–3
1969    Boston Celtics    4–3
1984    Boston Celtics    4–3
1985    Los Angeles Lakers    4–2
1987    Los Angeles Lakers    4–2
2008    Boston Celtics    4–2
2010    Los Angeles Lakers    4–3

Dukee, it's all about rings, rings, rings. You are merely preparing yourself for the inevitable when the Lakers SURPASS the Celtics, not just tie. You are using the usual twisting of stats as a tiebreaker when we reach 17 next June, which will be ok until we get 18, then no more tie-breaker bs. But even when we get 19 and 20 and so on, the old goat will still be living in the past somehow coming up with more irrelevant stats to prove superiority. The Lakers franchise has done the amazing, the incredible since 1980, they have been the constant and consistent juggernaut of the NBA, somehow always coming up with a way to win. Since 1980 Dorkee, eh uh Dukee, the Lakers have been in the Finals exactly HALF THE TIME, that's 16 out of 32 years, sir. They won 10 of those 16, that's 10 out of 32, ALMOST 1/3 OF THE TIME in 32 years the Lakers have won it all. The Celtics on the other hand are a has been franchise that has been irrelevant for almost THREE DECADES, having won just one title in 27 years! And you have the audacity to call them the greatest NBA franchise? It's all about titles, Dukee, and about what-have-you-done-for-me-lately. The latest dramatic Laker moves will surely grab another couple of titles and maybe YET ANOTHER THREE PEAT, while the Celtics languish further into obscurity. The Celtics have not repeated since you were still wearing your nutters, that's almost a HALF CENTURY AGO. Continue to live in the past, ya old nutter.

OUCH

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2010/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=FranchiseRankings2010-Intro