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Celtics' Broadcast Pokes Fun at Lakers Before Raising Team's 18th Championship Banner
The Boston Celtics now officially boast the most championship banners in NBA history.
The Celtics raised the 18th banner in franchise history at TD Garden on Tuesday night to celebrate their 2023-24 championship, which put them in a league of their own in the NBA record books. For the last four years, Boston was tied with the rival Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA lead with 17 championships after LeBron James guided the purple and gold to the 2020 title.
Well, the Celtics stand alone once again. And NBC Sports Boston, their television broadcast partner, made sure to take a shot at the Lakers on the network's championship banner pregame show Tuesday night.
On a broadcast graphic depicting the NBA's winningest franchises, NBC Sports Boston made sure to note that the Lakers' 17 championships include the "Disney World title" in 2020.
"Includes Disney World title"
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 22, 2024
The Celtics broadcast trolled the Lakers while showing a graphic for the most titles in NBA history 🤣
(via @NBCSCeltics) pic.twitter.com/m0weOjmtEb
James's lone championship with the Lakers is often the subject of criticism and jokes because all of the games were played inside the NBA bubble at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Fla. in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Teams that competed in those playoffs didn't have to deal with hostile road environments, aside from a few dozen virtual fans who attended the games via Zoom.
Does that championship deserve any less recognition? Definitely not. But the "Mickey Mouse championship" jokes will live on.
Both the Celtics and Lakers are set to tip off their 2024-25 regular seasons on Tuesday night, with Boston hosting the New York Knicks at TD Garden and Los Angeles battling the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena.
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Tom Dierberger is a staff writer and editor on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor's in communication from St. John's University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.