Jayson Tatum, left, and the Boston Celtics will face Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals starting Thursday, June 6, 2024. • So can we assume that a large portion of Southern California’s basketball fans will be rooting fervently for Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks over the next few weeks? …
• The Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy suggested in his notes column last week that the 1986 Celtics, who were 67-15 in the regular season, lost only once at home all season and postseason and lost just three games in four playoff series, wereYou’re on, Dan. I can think of at least five Lakers teams who could have beaten those Celtics. …
You can also throw in the 2008-09 Lakers. Still smarting from a Finals loss the previous June to Boston, they were 65-17 in the regular season and knocked off Orlando in the Finals with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol leading the way. … • As for the disclosures of interviewees in the current Great Laker Coach Search? I get the impression that they’re all in town interviewing for assistant positions. If JJ Redick truly is going to be the guy, as seems to be the consensus in the rumor mill, he’s going to need all the high-powered help on the bench he can get. …Athletes being compensated for the value they bring to an athletic program is a good thing, for sure.
• Anyone see the photos on social media of what presumably are the Dodgers’ new City Connect uniforms? This is another reminder: The people at Nike in charge of designing these clown suits, and the people in the MLB offices who consider this a good idea, have no respect for or interest in the heritage of the teams and cities they’re supposedly connecting to., the responses kept coming.