<h1>NBA conspiracy theory: Setting up a Celtics-Lakers final</h1> <p><strong>By Todd Heaps</strong></p> <p><em>Editor's note: This story was produced for JCOM 2160, Introduction to Online Journalism, which emphasizes hand-coding HTML.</em></p> <p>May 7, 2008 | Lakers vs. Celtics. This is looking more and more like the likely matchup in this year's NBA Finals. How convienent. Just when you thought the NFL had taken over as the nation's most popular sport, and just when you thought the NBA didn't have a player who stood out as the face of the league like M.J., Bird and Magic did for so many years, and just when you thought that watching an NBA game was about as fun as watching the women's version of the sport, just when you were ready to count the league out, the Celtics and Lakers are on course for meeting in the Finals. Coincidence? </p> <p>Somehow Celtics GM Danny Ainge, whose job was on the rocks, pulled off two of the biggest deals in Celtic history this past off-season by aquiring All-Star fowards <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2956103">Kevin Garnett</a> and <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2007/news/story?id=2920183">Ray Allen</a>. Ray Allen was pretty much obtained for the fifth pick in th '07 draft, which the Sonics used on forward Jeff Green. While KG was obtained through trading half the team away, with the most notable name from Boston being Al Jefferson, a promising young prospect, but the other four players were nobody of any value. When all was said and done, Boston had added Allen and Garnett without having too give up the one All-Star they already had on their roster, Paul Pierce. The combination of the three has resulted in the Celtics holding the leagues best record for the entire season. <p>Now, to the Lakers. Last summer, Kobe was requesting trades all over the place. He was telling radio shows and t.v. shows that their was no way he could stay and play in L.A. this season. Well, Kobe didn't get his wish and him and the Lakers made friends again. Meanwhile, vetran guard Derrick Fisher slipped his way out of a contract he was in the middle of with Utah and made his way back to L.A. over the summer. Then, a couple months into the season, one of the most horrifying trades in NBA history took place. The Memphis Grizzlies traded away their only All-Star <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3226203">Pau Gasol</a> to the Lakers for, are you ready for this, Kwame Brown? With a couple other players involved who are not even worth mentioning, the Lakers stole Gasol from the Grizzlies for Kwame Brown. <p>The series of events that have unfolded both in Boston and L.A. has set the stage for a rematch of two teams that have made up some of the NBA's greatest rivalries. Wilt vs. Russell, Bird vs. Magic, KG vs. Kobe? It has got my attention. And it's grabbing others attention all around the nation. A finals matchup between these two would draw more viewers than any finals series in a long, long time. Maybe the most ever. This all sounds great, but, something doesn't seem quite right about the whole thing. It all happened way too easy. No matter if David Stern played a part in renewing this rivarly or not, it has definitely revived the NBA. </HTML>