Los+Angeles+Lakers+vs.+Boston+Celtics

The Boston Celtics have an unbelievable history in the National Basketball Association winning 16 championships throughout the years. Since the Larry Bird era, the Celtics have not been as strong a team, often making useless trades thinking that the players brought in would help develop the franchise. The Celtic franchise finally stunned the entire Association by acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, two of the league’s greatest players this past summer. The Celtics acquired Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Ray Allen from the Seattle Supersonics. They followed that feat by adding two more key players to help the team in clutch times; Eddie House from the New Jersey Nets and James Posey from the Miami Heat. These four players turned the Celtics into one of the top teams in the league. They currently hold a record of 47 wins and 12 losses, the best record in the league at the moment, and a far cry from their record of 24 wins and 52 losses in the previous year. The franchise spent large amounts of money for these players, but the results seem to be worth it. The top paid Celtics are Kevin Garnett with $23 750 000, Paul Pierce with $16 360 095, and Ray Allen with $16 000 000, while the team total is $75 534 021 US. At the age of 33, Ray Allen is the oldest of the Celtics’ three leaders. He is followed by Kevin Garnett at the age of 32, and Paul Pierce at the age of 31. There has been a drastic improvement in the team’s performance from last year where they did not make the playoffs. This year they managed to secure a playoff spot in only 60 games. The franchise must be happy with their accomplishments and it looks like the Celtics may have a chance to win the championship if they continue to play as well as they have been playing.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the stronger teams in the National Basketball Association throughout the past years and they continue to improve and develop annually. Since the league was created, the Lakers have won 13 championships, their most recent being won in 2000, 20001, and 2002 when the team seemed virtually untouchable. At the time the Lakers were lead by the duo of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant and other key players such as Rick Fox, Bryan Shaw and Derek Fisher. In 2004, Shaquille O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat and many thought that was the end of the Laker franchise. Since 2004 the Lakers have been rebuilding their team around their superstar Kobe Bryant. During this time, the Lakers have acquired top players such as Lamar Odom from the Miami Heat, Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies, and young players such as Andrew Bynum, Jordan Farmar, and Luke Walton. This year the Lakers have climbed to the top of the extremely competitive Western Conference holding a record of 43 wins and 18 losses after a poor previous season of 45 wins and 37 losses. Last year the Lakers were eliminated by the high scoring Phoenix Suns in the semi-finals of the Western Conference playoffs in seven games. As the end of current season approaches, the Lakers seem to be winning even more games and playing better than they have played in the last 4 years. The franchise is paying large sums of money for the players, and each player is fulfilling his role and the team is benefiting. According to http://www.hoopshype.com/salaries/htm, the highest paid Laker player is Kobe Bryant with $19 490 625 US, followed by Pau Gasol with $13 709 375 and Lamar Odom with $13 524 000. The team’s total expenses for players is $71 753 284 US. The oldest of the Lakers’ 3 leaders is Kobe at the age of 29, followed by Lamar Odom at the age of 28, and Pau Gasol at the age of 28. So far the Lakers have been dominating the Western Conference and they have a great chance of winning the championship at the end of June.

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