The reason why the Lakers are so relevant to Celtic fans and all other NBA and sports fans is that they are the most successful franchise in sports over the last 30 years, by far. If they make the finals this year, they will have made the finals 15 times in the past 30 years (that's 50% of the time for the mathematically challenged) going 8 - 6 in the finals. No other major sports franchise has even half that success in finals appearances over that span i believe. We are looking forward to playing the celtics in the finals in 2029 after your next 21 year absence.