Kobe had plenty to say about the Celtics recent and prior history. As quoted by Marc Spears in ESPN.
"Since I've been in the league, [the Celtics] sucked," Bryant said. "Now they are kicking our butt. Hopefully, we'll get to the point where there is some parity. If we can get to a point where we can get some parity between us and them, that means we're playing at a championship-caliber level. Hopefully, that will happen."
"I hated those [expletives]," Bryant said. "I couldn't stand them, man. Are you kidding me? Bird. [Kevin] McHale. [Danny] Ainge. Ainge was like a little pest, man. I couldn't stand the guy.
"But you grow older and you understand that it's just beautiful basketball. As a kid, you just don't like them. But then, as you get older, you understand the beauty and the rivalry and the sense of appreciation that you have for it."
Hard to argue with anything he's saying and you have to understand he's coming from a Lakers perspective. Still, stuff like this will help grow Kobe's villan role in this rivalry (that is if his team doesn't trade him and figures out how to put someone decent next to him). It was fun booing Kobe last night and while I respect his game, I'll never be able to like him as a player.