We're shocked--SHOCKED--that these two are in the championship series. It's only the 13th time they've met there.

Going waaaayyy out on a limb and assuming that BOS or LAL actually WINS the championship, it will be the 28th time one of them has done so in the 61-year history of the NBA. (Boston has 17 titles in 20 tries, the Lakers 10 in 25 appearances.)

If you want to root for fiscal sanity, I guess you root for the Celtics. Their conference-leading 2009-10 payroll was $86.6M, barely edging out the Knicks ($85.1M), Cavs ($84.5), and Magic ($82.1M). At $91.4M, the Lakers are easily in the #1 spot league-wide. (Most teams are in the $60M-$75M range.) Don't you just love a good salary cap?

Here, according to hoopshype.com, are the Western Conference payrolls:

1. Los Angeles Lakers ($91.4M--with $80.5 already committed for 2011-12)
2. Dallas $86.9M
3. San Antonio 79.1
4. Denver 75.0
5. Phoenix 74.93
6. Utah 74.9
7. New Orleans 70.9
8. Houston 69.3 ($16.4 to Yao Ming)
9. Sacramento 67.3 (to 20 players)
10. Golden State 66.2
11. Minnesota 62.5
12. L. A. Clippers 61.4
13. Oklahoma City 58.4 (to 21 players)
14. Memphis 57.4
15. PORTLAND $55.8M (includes $9M to that future HOFer, Darius Miles)

Nothing compared to MLB according to mlb.com:

1.Yankees-$201,449,289
2.Mets-$135,773,988
3.Cubs-$135,050,000
4.Red Sox-$122,696,000
5.Tigers-$115,085,145 6.Angels-$113,709,000 7.Phillies-$113,004,048
8.Astros-$102,996,415
9.Dodgers-$100,458,101
10.Mariners-$98,904,167 11.Braves-$96,726,167 12.White Sox -$96,068,500

Considering the Finals win percentage, the Lakers are the definite underdog with a 40% win percentage, while the Celtics are the gargantuan front runner with an 85% win percentage in their NBA Finals appearances.

How 'bout them Yankees? Oh, nothing out of the ordinary besides trying to buy the World Series as always, year after year.

Here's to hoping the Celts sweep the Fakers and this is all a bad memory...

Geezers except for Rajon ROndo. If hje doesn't get shut-down by Kobe, this will be a good series.

Ryan ... You're right about the difference in absolute dollars. However, think about it on a per-player basis. MLB teams have rosters of 25, with a few people on the DL who are also being paid. In the NBA, most teams play 8 or 9 players and have a roster of 12. NFL teams have 47 suited up per game, plus the taxi squad--and their payrolls barely match the Lakers. In fact, the Dallas Cowboys' total salaries for 2009 totaled $90.65M.

Wouldn't it be fun to be the 11th or 12th player on an NBA team? Nice salary. Great travel. Per diems. A front row seat for all of the games. And, best of all, you'd almost never have to actually WORK.

The last two Suns-Lakers games were exciting, if disappointing. As much as I hate Kobe, I have to respect him, too. That leaning three-pointer with Grant Hill all over him to ice yesterday's game was classic Kobe.

If the Blazers actually had a true rivalry with the Lakers these days, I could hate on them more. Kobe seems to have matured--he doesn't agitate me as much as in years past. Pau Gashole, however, is such a whiner and Sasha Vujacic is perhaps the most reviled Laker since Rick Fox.

Gotta go with Boston. After all, ball don't lie.

Geez, who deserves a ring more, Kevin Garnett or Kobe Bryant? Ron Artest or Rasheed Wallace?

Rural Resident,

Here is the list of the LA Lakers payroll from 2009-2010 projected out into the 2013-2014 season:

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/la_lakers.htm

3 players (Kobe, Pau, and Bynum) pulling more than $10 million per year. Each is worth every penny especially Bynum because if he is healthy than I can see his game drawing comparisons to Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon.

Adam Morrison making $5 million is a bad joke. He needs to be cut from the NBA entirely after this season.

I believe this is Fisher's last year and I don't know what will happen with Vujacic. Maybe more minutes if Shannon Brown gets the starting PG role. I prefer Shannon Brown over the hometown brat with big ears AKA Jordan Farmar.

I'll be rooting for LA. They are the lesser of two evils.

Phoenix and Orlando are two of the lamest cities in this country. I could have care less about a Magic-Suns series. I'm looking forward to Celtics - Lakers - one of the best rivalries in sports.

"Each is worth every penny especially Bynum because if he is healthy than I can see his game drawing comparisons to Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon."

Surely you jest - Bynum would have to have a shooting range of > 3 feet and some foot work to go along with it before I would even nuance him being similar to Olajuwon.

BTW - Not being one to rub it in, but where are all the Morrison fans now (remember when we picked Roy instead?)

I'm no fan of the Lakers (if I were a basketball fan, I guess the Clippers would be my team, as I seem to prefer the bad SoCal teams), but really, there's "no sports team" you like less than the Lakers?

How about the USC Trojans?

I must agree with Gill above that Sasha Vujacic seems to be pretty annoying. I keep hoping that someone will lay a little thunder on him. Goran Dragic on the other hand was a joy to watch. Still I am not rooting for any beer swilling East Coast Celtic teams. Go Lakers!

Although I'm not a big Lakers fan, I do enjoy watching Kobe Bryant play. He played absolutely amazing down the stretch in game 6 against the Suns. The shot he made when Grant Hill was in his face as the shot clock was expiring was magical. I'm looking forward to the NBA Championship and I have no idea who's going to win.