2008 NBA Finals
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| Dates | June 5–17 | ||||||||||||
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| MVP |
Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics) |
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| Television | ABC | ||||||||||||
| Announcers | Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy | ||||||||||||
| Radio network | ESPN | ||||||||||||
| Announcers | Mike Tirico, Jim Durham (Game 4) and Hubie Brown | ||||||||||||
| Referees | |||||||||||||
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| Hall of Famers |
Coaches: Phil Jackson (2007) Tex Winter (2011) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015) |
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| Eastern Finals | Celtics defeated Pistons, 4–2 | ||||||||||||
| Western Finals | Lakers defeated Spurs, 4–1 | ||||||||||||
| Game 1: | Dick Bavetta, Scott Foster, Eddie F. Rush |
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| Game 2: | Dan Crawford, Bob Delaney, Ken Mauer |
| Game 3: | Joe Crawford, Bennett Salvatore, Mark Wunderlich |
| Game 4: | Joe DeRosa, Steve Javie, Tom Washington |
| Game 5: | Dick Bavetta, Scott Foster, Ken Mauer |
| Game 6: | Joe Crawford, Eddie F. Rush, Bennett Salvatore |
The 2008 NBA Finals were held June 5 through June 17 of 2008, to decide the winner of the 2007–08 NBA season, and conclude the season's playoffs. The Boston Celtics, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, four games to two in a best-of-seven series. This was Boston's first title since 1986 and 17th overall.
2008 marked the first time since 2000 that the top seeds from both conferences met in the Finals and the first time since 2003 that any top seeded team played in the NBA finals. The Lakers appeared in the Finals for the first time since 2004 and a record 29th time overall. The Celtics appeared in the Finals for the first time since 1987 and second-best 20th time overall.
Going into the series, the Celtics had won the most championships of all-time with 16, and the Lakers were second with 14. The two clubs, the most successful teams in NBA history, looked to renew a longstanding rivalry 21 years after their last Finals meeting in 1987. They narrowly missed meeting each other in 2002, when the Lakers advanced to the Finals, but the Celtics, who led 2–1 in the Conference Finals, eventually fell to the favored New Jersey Nets 4–2. This was the 11th time the teams met in the championship round; the Celtics won eight of their previous ten Finals meetings against the Lakers, winning in 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969 and 1984—the Lakers won in 1985 and 1987.
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