Issue VIII

The Celtics and the Lakers are two of the four most successful franchises in American professional sports. Boston tops the National Basketball Association with 17 championships and the first Minneapolis, now Los Angeles, Lakers are second with 16. Historic rivals, these two organizations account for 45% of all NBA championships. They are the Coca-Cola and Pepsi of the NBA: iconic brands delivering a consistent, quality product to stalwart fans over generations.

But as we’re reminded this season, even great franchises with immense resources can stumble.

Both the Celtics and Lakers entered the 2018/19 season with enormous hype thanks to dramatic off-season acquisitions made in attempts to compete with the Golden State Warriors and fend off up-starts like the Milwaukee bucks and Toronto Raptors. The results have been lackluster to put it lightly: the Celtics, predicted my many to be title contenders, are currently in fifth place in their conference and the Lakers will miss the playoffs entirely.

These basketball teams have business problems.

In 1985, Coca-Cola reformulated its flagship product as a result of declining market share and increased competition from modern brands. “New Coke” as it was dubbed turned out to be a disaster. It repulsed loyal consumers and provided fodder for rivals. New Coke was a clear overreaction to a changing market and a costly misjudgment by CEO Roberto Goizueta his senior leadership team.

The Celtics and Lakers have fans feeling similar to Coke drinkers in 1985.

The Celtics traded their darling point guard Isaiah Thomas for the younger, flashier and more talented Kyrie Irving who clearly expressed his desire to be the leader a franchise, after playing in the shadow of Lebron James for four seasons. The Celtics have given Irving that opportunity over the last two seasons. More on that to come.

Concurrently, a supposed savior arrived in the city of Angels. Former Cavalier Lebron James, arguably the second greatest player of all time and inarguably the greatest player of his generation, signed a four year deal with the Lakers in the summer of 2018. The Lakers failed to sign another star player to play alongside Lebon but his supporting cast of savvy veterans and young talent was expected to be enough to propel the Lakers to a deep playoff run for the first time in since 2011.

Three quarters of the way through the season, the “New” Celtics and Lakers have been massive disappointments considering the preseason expectations. A reactionary race for stars and young talent has left the Celtics with a group of self-centered introverts. The Lakers seem to have overestimated their ability to build around Lebron, and Lebron’s willingness to cultivate their existing crop of budding talent. Both organizations have put too much trust in their big-name new leaders.

The Celtic’s Kyrie Irving abandoned Lebron James in Cleveland to lead a team himself and the 26 year-old point guard has done an absolutely terrible job. Turns out the correlation between a player’s ability to put a ball through a hoop and a man’s ability to lead other men is weaker than many had expected.

“The Kyrie News Cycle is its own industry at this point: the Celtics lose a game, Irving gives a terse and meta-commentary on the state of the media, basketball, and the universe, questioning the motivations of those asking him questions. Those reporters then write about Irving’s responses and the scrutiny on his and the team’s play is that much stronger. Rinse and repeat.”


– Kevin O’Connor, The Ringer

“Leadership, you’re either born with that ability or you’re not. Kyrie is not a natural leader.”


– Shannon Sharpe, Undisputed

Celtics’ future that once seemed as bright as July on the Cape often looks more like an overcast day in Lowell.

On the opposite coast, Lebron, who is a proven leader, has demonstrated that he is simply disinterested this season.

https://twitter.com/TheRenderNBA/status/1103535436948013056

The ironies of the dubious Irving/James, Celtics/Lakers situations abound.

Just a few seasons ago, Kyrie and Lebron won a championship as teammates on the historically maligned Cleveland Cavaliers. They separated, joined the two most successful franchises in their sport and now appear to be miserable. But hey, maybe basketball isn’t even their true calling.


There is still plenty hope for both franchises and their star players thanks to an abundance of assets in the form of young talent and draft picks. James and the Lakers will likely acquire a co-star this off-season and the Celtics already have enough pieces to make a title run, they just need to figure out how to coexist.

Three months after releasing New Coke, Coca-Cola put Coke Classic back on the market and the company actually regained some of the market share it had lost over the previous decade. So maybe there is a glass-half-ful learning opportunity here and the Celtics and Lakers brass will right their ships.

Star players win championships, but talent chasing without the consideration of personalities and chemistry is negligent. Kevin Garnett, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Kobe Bryant were fantastic players and intense-but-fair leaders. Kyrie Irving and this version of Lebron James are inadequate.

Once the dust settles, the reality for the Celtics and Lakers over the next few seasons will likely be somewhere in between disaster and domination. After all, people still drink Coke.