The rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Lakers involves the two most storied basketball franchises in National Basketball Association (NBA) history. It has been called the best rivalry in the NBA. The two teams have met a record 12 times in the NBA Finals, starting with their first Finals meeting in . They would go on to dominate the league in the 1960s and the 1980s, facing each other six times in the 1960s and three times in the 1980s.