The showdown channels centuries of Spanish tension and pride – and may soon collide with the NBA’s ambitions to expand into Europe
Scores of fans filed past the silhouettes of cranes and construction work surrounding Barcelona’s Camp Nou last Friday night. But they weren’t there for the world famous soccer stadium. Instead, the sea of Barça jerseys was heading for the club’s basketball arena, the Palau Blaugrana. There was an expectant but apprehensive buzz in the air – the night marked a big occasion: Real Madrid were in town.
It’s widely accepted that the biggest rivalry in basketball is between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics; between them they have won almost half of all championships in NBA history. The Lakers-Celtics showdowns of the 1980s went beyond basketball and embodied different Americas: West Coast glitz versus East Coast grit; flashy fastbreak basketball versus fundamentals; and, frankly, though perhaps sometimes oversimplistically, Black versus white.
