So how is it that the player of his era (Kobe Bryant) and arguably the best coach in history (Phil Jackson) can team up to mercifully humiliate themselves in the one arena that matters most to them?
Not even diehard Boston fans could have seen Tuesday night's massacre coming. Not with title-magnets Kobe and Phil manning the opposition, keen on enhancing their respective legacies.
But, in the end, the quartet of Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen clearly wanted their first rings a bit more than Bryant or Jackson simply wanted to add another.
“I'm so hyped right now,” screamed a jubilant Garnett. “Any thing's possible.”
The Celts manhandled Kobe and company from the opening tip, particularly over the last three games where they outscored them by 40 points, leaving Lamar Odom wondering just who the guys wearing the purple and gold along aside him truly are.
"We need to get stronger, nastier,” said Odom. “It's a mindset and they did better."
That would be quite the understatement, notes Talkdatishgirl. But then after Tuesday, what more can they say?