Kurt Rambis won four NBA championships as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. In the 1980s, the Lakers reached the NBA Finals every year except 1981 and 1986. They captured five titles during that stretch.

The LA Lakers vs. Boston Celtics battles in the ’80s were epic. The Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson rivalry took center stage as the Celtics and Lakers squared off three times for the NBA championship in the decade. While the Lakers had the upper hand over the Celtics in the 1980s, Rambis’ comment about his team’s dynasty might set off a few Celtics fans.

The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers had some epic battles in the 1980s

In each year of the 1980s, either the Celtics or the Lakers reached the NBA Finals. In his rookie season, Johnson guided his Lakers to a championship as they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in six games.

Things got interesting for the two teams beginning in 1984 when they met in the championship round for the first time since 1969. The ’84 NBA Finals had it all, setting the stage for a wild ’80s ride.

The Lakers dominated the first half of the ’84 series but headed to Boston for Game 5 tied at two games apiece. LA stole homecourt advantage by winning Game 1 in Boston and then appeared to be on their way to their second straight win when they held a two-point lead and had the ball in the waning seconds of Game 2.

Instead, Boston’s Gerald Henderson stole a James Worthy pass intended for Byton Scott and converted it into a game-tying layup. The Celtics won in overtime. The Lakers convincingly won Game 3 at home and held a 76-70 lead in Game 4 before Boston’s Kevin McHale infamously clotheslined Rambis, who was driving in for a layup. The play changed the momentum of the game and the Celtics pulled out another overtime win.

The Lakers got their revenge in 1985. After getting upset by the Houston Rockets in the 1986 Western Conference Finals, the Lakers came back and beat the Celtics for the championship in 1987.

Rambis might have a few Celtics fans disagreeing with him

11 championships in 13 years 🏆 pic.twitter.com/LyBNEhIdpQ

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 10, 2022

In a recent a video posted by Garrett Leight, Rambis spoke about team dynasties. He said he believed his Lakers are “easily” the greatest dynasty, not just in basketball, but in all of sports. He might get an argument from the Celtics.

“Im my opinion, the Lakers are the greatest dynasty in all of sports,” he said. “We had a tremendous team of young, talented players, All-Stars, Hall of Famers. What was interesting about our team was everybody was willing to sacrifice for the benefit of the team.

“Magic could have easily scored 40 points a game, but we probably wouldn’t have been anywhere near as successful. Kareem and his ability to rebound the basketball and accept a role on the team in terms of being the focal point of our offense but letting other players score as well. The defense had a lot of trouble trying to figure out who they were going to have to focus their attention on.”

Those Lakers were outstanding. We’ll give the ’80s Lakers a slight edge over the Celtics of the ’80s but the greatest dynasty ever? I’m not sure how he can look past the Celtics of the late ’50s and the ’60s.

Led by Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, and Tom Heinsohn, the Celtics went to the NBA Finals for the first of 10 straight times in 1957, winning their first title. After losing to the St. Louis Hawks in 1958, the Celtics then captured eight straight championships and 10 of 11. During that run, they defeated the Lakers seven times.

With all due respect Mr. Rambis, those Boston Celtics are a more impressive dynasty than your Lakers.