Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the best hot dog topping: ‘The tears of the 1985 Celtics when they lost to the Lakers in the Finals’

Fourth of July is just a couple of weeks away, so a lot of people across the United Sates are preparing to grill out and eat loads of hot dogs and hamburgers.

Perhaps that is why the question of what the best hot dog topping is came up when Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a guest on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” recently.

Though Abdul-Jabbar could have simply said something like ketchup or relish, he decided to instead take a slight jab at the Boston Celtics, the Lakers’ longtime rivals.

“The tears of the 1985 Celtics when they lost to the Lakers in the Finals,” he said before laughing.

Of course, Abdul-Jabbar and the Lakers battled against the Celtics for many years. The two franchises are also the two most storied in the entire NBA and lay claim to 17 NBA championships each.

If Abdul-Jabbar was looking to be a thorn in the side of Celtics fans, he could not have picked a better time to make the joke. The Celtics just recently lost to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals. If the Celtics had won, they would have reclaimed their lead over the Lakers for most titles in league history.

The Lakers beat the Miami Heat for the league’s ultimate prize back in 2020 while the Celtics haven’t won a title since 2008.

If the Lakers can rebound from their disastrous 2021-22 NBA season and the Celtics can maintain their course and be one of the best teams in the East again during the 2022-23 season, perhaps the iconic franchises could meet in the Finals once again.