Even though the Patriots beat the Rams in Super Bowl 53, another L.A. sports team (the Lakers) is using them for inspiration in overcoming adversity.
The rivalry and occasional acrimony between Boston and Los Angeles in professional sports is well-documented.
Ever since the days of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird battling it out for NBA supremacy, these two great cities have been at odds with one another over championships. Especially in this past year alone, we’ve seen the rivalry renewed in both the MLB (Dodgers versus Red Sox in the World Series) and in the NFL (Patriots versus the Chargers and then the Rams in the playoffs).
Beantown continues to hold the overall edge in this clash between the coasts, but that didn’t stop at least one L.A. team from openly admiring and drawing influence from a Boston sports franchise.
Granted, the Los Angeles Lakers play basketball and compete in the NBA; both of which things are vastly different from football, the Rams, and the NFL. Still, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka might have raised a few eyebrows around Tinseltown – and perhaps ruffled the feathers of some salty Rams fans – when he told reporters in a conference call Friday that he hopes his franchise can emulate the Patriots moving forward.
“I think early on they were facing a ton of adversity,” Pelinka started, referencing New England’s poor season start and reports that the dynasty might finally be crumbling. “There were lots of stories being told about fractured relationships, but what did they do? They kind of came together.”
"“My hope is our story is a little bit, maybe, like that where we’re on the outside but we find a way to get in the playoffs with the skill sets we’ve added. And then much like [Tom] Brady did, we let one of the all-time greats — LeBron [James] — take the helm for this team and make some noise.”"
The Lakers have their work cut out for them after going just 6-11 in the 17 games LeBron James missed with a groin injury. It was a costly skid that dropped them out of playoff positioning and all the way down to 10th in the rugged Western Conference.
Pelinka is hoping that now that James and running mate Rajon Rondo (Boston fans may remember that name just a bit) are both back and healthy, the team can go on its own comeback run and challenge for a decent playoff seed… and maybe even make a postseason run of their own.
Patriots fans might appreciate the flattery, especially coming from an L.A. team (and the Lakers, no less!), but they’ll still be pulling for Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, and the Celtics to win this season’s NBA championship come June.
The C’s are currently No. 4 in the Eastern Conference.