On Monday the Celtics surpassed the Lakers as the franchise with the most titles. The Lakers tied with them at 17 in 2020, at a time when the world could hardly pay attention to the NBA championships. But the last time the Celtics won was in 2008 with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett at the helm. That championship vibe was loud and stinging on this week’s Ticket & The Truth. This was expected after their team reclaimed the title. But their target was not the disheartened Mavs nation. It was the salty Lakers fans.

Pierce and Garnett walked into the studio in their finest green – Boston Celtics sweats and massive Celtics chains. Pierce was ready for the green confetti, parade, and the hate. Typically most of it came from Lakers fans.

Their nemesis, LeBron James and the Lakers had an early playoff exit. After the Celtics won, the Lakers fans were the loudest in discrediting it. They took jabs at their Eastern Conference run claiming this was an easy championship for them competing against shorthanded teams in the east.

KG had some words to say about that. “Get over it,” he told Lakers fans. “I hear Boston fans are not happy but they ain’t like disgruntled. They’re like respects… But the Lakers fans are f**kin disgruntled. It’s okay man… y’all gon win, we gon win.” Garnett said while Pierce kept echoing him. KG took jabs pointing that the Lakers had been in the finals 32 times, that’s 10 times more than Celtics have been. “That mean they got their a** whooped on more,” he claimed.

Side note: Garnett was mostly rooting for Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves till their playoffs exit. Pierce was Celtics all the way. But he was back on the Celtics bandwagon for the Finals and reveling in it.

Like he said, Lakers fans have a way of inserting themselves in the conversation. And they did in this one, taking on Garnett for pressing one too many nerves.

Lakers fans fight back

Lakers’ 17th banner was in 2020, under the special conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. A fan barked back in response to Garnett, “Shut the hell up lying.. Boston fans were the main ones hating on the Bubble.. Funny cuz the Bubble was harder than this years run..” That was the season the Celtics made it to the first round of the playoffs after a strong season but were ousted by the Nets.

The Lakers and Celtics have been historic rivals beyond the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird era. It’s never been pretty. So when KG claims that Boston has always shown respect, self-proclaimed #RealLaker commented, “Bulllshiitt. It’s war. Boston don’t like when we win. Stop it….Celtics my azz.”

The Big Ticket brought up Jerry West, who the NBA world lost this week. He didn’t mean disrespect, stating that Mr Logo is great but he didn’t get past the Celtics. For that, some fans dubbed him “the bitter ticket.” They didn’t agree that they ‘gave’ the ’70s and ’80s to the Lakers.

Instead, some brought up that, “To be real… the Cs won 11 chips before the 70s. 3 in the 80s (Magic Battle/Took Over) 0 in the 90s (Jordan Took Over) 1 in the 00s (Kobe/Shaq) Took Over and 0 in the 10s (Lebron Took Over) 1 in the 20s….. so…. Long story short 2 in the last 3 decades isn’t really “dominant” “best franchise” worthy. There were 17 teams til 1975 and 22 from 75-80……. And once again 11 chips came before 1980… it’s old history holding yall up. And this a Knick Fan.”

Lakers fans took it so personally, they slapped a reminder about who kept both KG and Pierce in check across two decades. “Boston has won 5 chips in my 42 years of living… @kobebryant won that many HIMSELF IN HALF THE TIME.” Including the 2009 and 2010 titles right under the 2008 defending champion’s nose.