<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">So, no, the old gang's not here. Most of the old gang grew old and went away. Shaq and Vlade. Doug Christie and Rick Fox. Bobby Jackson and Brian Shaw. TNT on-site analyst Charles Barkley can go ahead and proclaim the Kings-Lakers' rivalry dead because "only one team wins," as he did before Thursday night's telecast, but Charles the Entertainer again was overstating matters. At the very least, this once-storied matchup is on life support. The Lakers always announce their presence, one way or another. The Kings always wear their purple, and their bruises. The same fans who booed the visitors during introductions, who stomped their feet at all the appropriate times (and none of those insidious fan prompts necessary), and who sat in utter disgust and amazement throughout an abysmal first half, keep the memories close. People don't forget pain like this. Thursday night's dramatic and wildly improbable overtime loss, and all those earlier defeats, those crushing plays that result in earlier-than-anticipated offseasons. The elusive rebound Vlade Divac failed to grab. That 21-point lead the Kings failed to maintain. All those horrible calls in Game Six. All those blown opportunities in Game Seven. All those biting comments from Phil Jackson, who returned to Arco Arena Thursday with the same limp and his usual allotment of sarcastic asides. "I'm not going to throw aspersions on Sacramento," the Lakers coach said with a grin, before his club prevailed in overtime. "Look at our surroundings. You can feel the ambience. I'm glad that they're (fans) supporting their Sacramento team, and hopefully, they'll stay in town because the fans deserve this team. Even if they didn't vote for a new arena." Hear what he's saying? Our Friend Phil still cares, too. The cast of characters has changed, and in truth, most of the rivalry's truly great characters have moved on. But there is something about Kings-Lakers that puts a charge into this old building. No, the more topical issues were these: Would the undersized Kings have enough to prod the Lakers coach out of his seat on the sideline, or would the surprisingly competitive Lakers prevail because of another routinely spectacular night by Kobe Bryant? The Lakers in fact are a physical mess. Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown are sidelined with injuries. Chris Mihm is out for the season after ankle surgery. Most of their other available players are young, inexperienced or seldom utilized. Turns out, those basic basketball concepts such as pass, cut and move, aren't so simple after all. Just look at the Kings in the opening half. Their inspired comeback notwithstanding, Eric Musselman's squad can't get past their passion for one-on-one play -- a tough formula for a team without a superstar. Apparently, the rebuilding Kings aren't good enough to beat the reconfigured Lakers. Or maybe they just don't believe they're good enough. Maybe that's the problem, because for all the memories generated by these scintillating Kings-Lakers encounters, the 2006-2007 Kings arrived Tuesday night and promptly forgot about playing the opening half.</div> Source
Having a great series against a dinasty (Lakers) and loosing in game 7 should never be consider a rivalry. Like Charles said, "The same team always wins!" So as much as you try to call it a rivalry for us Lakers fans its just a game.
Actually, it's a little more than just a game to me, and I'm as big a Laker fan as you'll find on this board. I love beating the Kings and hate losing to them. If there was one team in the NBA I never want to lose to, the Kings are right up there. So, to me, it's more than just a game.
