Boston Celtics: The 25 Most Hated Opponents
By Bill Speros
1. Pat Riley
The Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Miami Heat rank among the most hated of Boston Celtics rivals. Hollywood, Manhattan and South Beach. Those places represent everything that Boston isn’t. These teams have one key figure in common throughout their history: Pat Riley. Given Riley’s longevity as a coach, his team’s success against Boston and his ability to permeate in three key spots of Celtics animosity earns him the top spot on this list.
Riley once called the Celtics “Klingons” when he was coaching the Lakers. Riley’s moment of visceral triumph over Boston came with the Lakers win in the 1985 Finals on Boston’s parquet floor. In his book “Show Time,” Riley wrote: “the ‘Boston Mystique’ encourages the lowest common denominator of fan behavior. It grows directly out of the low-rent attitudes of Boston management.” The disdain was mutual. The rivalry between Riley and the Celtics continues to simmer.
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Riley’s Heat knocked the Celtics out of the playoffs in 2012. Riley and Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge exchanged heated words back in 2013 when Riley told Ainge to “shut the (bleep) up” after Ainge, a pest against Riley’s Lakers in the 1980s, criticized LeBron James for complaining about officiating. “He was the biggest whiner going when he was playing and I know that because I coached against him,” Riley added. Ainge lobbed a stinger back by saying “I don’t want to mess up his Armani suits and all that hair goop. It would be way too expensive for me.” Lest we forget, Riley won an NBA title as a player for the Lakers in 1972 and logged one minute of play for Phoenix in the 1976 Finals, won by Boston in six games.