Reliving the Epic 1985 NBA Finals: Lakers vs Celtics Championship Legacy

I still get chills thinking about Game 6 of the 1985 NBA Finals. That iconic image of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook sailing through the Boston Garden air remains burned into my memory. See, I was just a kid then, but my father had me stay up past bedtime to watch history unfold. The Lakers were down 3-2 in the series, facing elimination in the very arena where they'd suffered so many heartbreaking losses to their archrivals. What made that 1985 championship so special wasn't just that the Lakers finally conquered Boston in Boston - it was the sheer physical toll that series took on both teams. Which brings me to something that's been on my mind lately.

I recently read about former PBA enforcer Ramon "Onchie" dela Cruz needing government assistance for a total knee replacement. Now, basketball fans might wonder what a Philippine Basketball Association player has to do with the legendary Lakers-Celtics rivalry, but hear me out. Watching those 1985 finals today, what strikes me most is how these athletes' bodies were essentially collateral damage in these epic battles. Magic Johnson played through hamstring issues that would have sidelined most players, while Kevin McHale famously competed in the 1987 playoffs with a broken foot. We celebrate their toughness, but we rarely consider the decades of pain that follow.

The physical style of the 80s NBA was both its glory and its curse. I remember Larry Bird and James Worthy going at each other like prize fighters, their collisions echoing through the arena. They played 48 regular season games plus intense playoff runs year after year - that's approximately 100 high-intensity games annually for contenders. Today's load management would have been unthinkable to them. While we marvel at their durability, we forget that joints have finite lifespans. Dela Cruz's situation resonates because it reflects what many of these older athletes face - the medical bills from procedures that cost around $50,000, the difficulty navigating healthcare systems, the quiet suffering long after the cheering stops.

What made the Lakers' 1985 victory so cathartic was precisely because it required overcoming not just the Celtics, but their own physical limitations. Kareem was 38 years old that season, his knees wrapped tighter than a mummy. Yet he delivered one of his greatest performances when it mattered most, scoring 29 points in the clinching Game 6. The celebration afterward showed exhausted men who had given everything - and I mean everything - to reach that moment. Fast forward thirty-eight years, and many of those heroes are dealing with the consequences of those sacrifices.

I've always believed we owe these athletes more than just nostalgic highlight reels. When I see stories like Dela Cruz's, it reminds me that the price of those legendary performances continues to be paid decades later. The government assistance he seeks isn't just medical funding - it's recognition that these players gave their physical wellbeing for our entertainment. The Lakers and Celtics organizations have generally done right by their legends, but many professional athletes worldwide aren't so fortunate.

That 1985 series represented basketball at its most physically demanding - seven games of absolute warfare that left both teams battered but created memories that defined a generation. The contrast between then and now is stark. Modern sports science has extended careers, but the fundamental reality remains: professional sports break bodies. As fans, we should champion better post-career support systems while still celebrating the incredible toughness that made series like the 1985 Finals so unforgettable. Because frankly, the sight of an aging champion struggling to walk shouldn't be the final chapter of any athlete's story.