Rivalries take on different look now, get decidedly more personal

Associated Press

MIAMI — LeBron James loves rivalries. Ohio StateMichigan. North CarolinaDuke. Dallas Cowboys-Washington Redskins. Those are some of the favorite matchups he has cited, ones that have been honed by the flowing of badblood over generations.

Kyrie Irving left Cleveland onlytwo months ago.

By James’ own definition, he and Irving wouldn’t be rivals yet. The rest of the NBA might call it a rivalry game — not because the teams played in the Eastern Conference Finals in the spring but because James is still with the Cavaliers and Irving now is playingfor the Boston Celtics.

Gone are the days of venomous team rivalries such as Celtics-Los Angeles Lakers or Chicago Bulls-Detroit Pistons. In this era, the animus is nearly always about individuals. “Idon’t know if ‘rival’ is the right word,” Cleveland’s KevinLove said when asked if Celtics-Cavaliers is a rivalry. “But they’re right up there, if not the main competitor, with wefeel like us in the East.”

But the matchups that seem to most move the needle in NBA rivalry talk now are breakups of superstar duos. Not long ago, it was Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Last year, it was Russell Westbrookand Kevin Durant. This year, Irving and James join that club. And as luck would have it, the NBA schedule — finished before Irving’s trade to Boston — has them paired inGame 1 of the season.

“I’m just happy to just start NBA basketball back again,” said Irving, who, likely unsuccessfully, tried last week to downplay rivalry talk by suggesting that the Tuesday meetingwould be just another game.