In the present day NBA there are some new personal rivals and team rivals throughout the league, which makes the game so much more entertaining and fun to watch. The NBA also brought back some old school heated rivalries as well. Its great to see the passion and energy with these rivalry games. Players go 100% on each possession and do not want to see their team go down to a much hated team. But within these rivalries, there is always a mutual respect for one another. They may not like each other but they do respect each other.
The New NBA rivalries in the Association are quite entertaining. The up and coming teams are battling veteran teams for respect and playoff positioning, The Thunder-Mavs rivalry has really been an exciting matchup over the past year. They met in the Western Conference Finals in 2011 and each game this season has been must-see TV. Kevin Durant vs Dirk Nowitzki is also a key personal rivalry as well. Although Dirk has the upper hand for now, Kevin Durant is on the rise and could potentially take his team past the Mavs this year in the playoffs. Another very interesting rivalry is the Bulls-Heat matchup. It is filled with superstars and MVP's making this one of the most exciting matchups to in all of basketball. Derrick Rose who was last seasons MVP takes on Miami's Big Three of Bosh, James, and Wade. Its the Battle of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and it might even be a rematch of the ECF again.
Dating back to Magic vs Bird and Jordan vs Miller the NBA has seen players go at it every time their respective teams take the court. Since those days are over, we have seen stars go on full attack on each other just like how players used to in the hard knocks NBA.
One of the best player rivalries in the present NBA is Kobe Bryant VS LeBron James. Yes we have had heated debates over which one is better and do championships really matter. With all those aside this matchup might go down as one of the best one on one matchups in NBA history. Although Bryant admitted he has no true rivalries, fans, coaches, and players see that there is an extra pep in the Lakers guard when he takes the floor against LeBron. On the other hand James has had the upper hand in these matchups as of late, winning 5 of the last 6 matchups against Bryant and his Lakers. Since they have only met in the regular season NBA fans are drooling over a Kobe-LeBron NBA final.Another great player rivalry has to be the matchup between point guards Chris Paul and Deron Williams . This point guard matchup has been very interesting over the years, each guard is their respective teams leader and floor general and to see them go hard on each other is very exciting. CP3 Vs Deron has been a battle for the best point guard in the league crown for the past 4 seasons, its been such a toss up as well, they both put up very similar numbers and have actually spilt there last 8 meeting against each other. This rivalry will continue to be a great one through the years it is a battle between classic point guards.
With all the new rivalries stirring up in the Association, we all have seen history repeat itself with matchups that have once again become instant classics. The Lakers-Celtics nostalgic matchup is back and its not just for pride, its for titles. They have met in twice in the last four NBA Finals , splitting the matchup and have had some great regular season games. It is always a battle when these two teams meet. Kobe and his Lakers have owned the Celtics at the TD Garden winning their last 4 regular season matchups. But the Celtics have always kept the matchups close, taking the Lakers to 7 games in the 2010 finals and winning the 2008 finals. Some say the rivalry has slowly lost its touch due to the age of both teams, but you cannot count out the passion these teams have and their chances of going to the finals.
Another Rivalry that's back is the Bulls-Pacers rivalry of the 90's. Although there is no Jordan-Miller matchup, the two teams recent success in the past 2 seasons have resurrected hard nose basketball. We clearly can these teams have no love for each other, meeting in the 2011 playoffs first round, the Bulls won in 5 games leaving a bitter taste in the Pacers mouth. This season the Pacers handed the Bulls their first home loss and are looking forward to rematching them in the 2012 playoffs.
There is nothing better than watching two teams who do not like each other bump heads for 48 minuets. Rivalries make the game so much better, with out the hatred for teams, debates, games, and players in the league would be so dull. I have a feeling the league is going to have even more rivalries and player matchups to look forward to as well.
Credit : all images belong to Google.com (googleimages) all videos belong to Youtube.com i do not own any of these , all stats belong to ESPN.com
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