Maybe there's hope yet for the kinder, gentler, we're-all-brothers-in-arms-and-Facebook-friends NBA of the 21st century.
Perhaps there's still a chance that when the playoffs begin this weekend there will be more hot times when teams exchange fiery stares rather than warm and fuzzy moments.
"They talk too much," said the Lakers' Pau Gasol, nodding toward the Denver Nuggets' locker room after a recent game. "Way too much."
After a recent rally from 22 points down came up a hair short in Boston a few weeks ago, Cleveland's LeBron James summed up the atmosphere on the court: "They don't like us, we don't like them."
Somewhere, Magic Johnson was getting a warm feeling all the way down to his Showtime toes.
It was during the NBA All-Star Weekend in Dallas when the Hall of Famer was standing around chatting and mentioned what he thought was missing most from the league today.
"Riii-val-ries," Magic said, stretching the word out as wide his growing grin.
"Look, I'm not saying the guys don't want to win and don't go all out. But I watch the game now and there's a difference. You know, everybody talks about me and Larry (Bird) being friends now, and we are. But for all the respect that I had for Larry as a player during our careers, when we were out on the court together, I hated him. I hated all all the Celtics. And they hated us, too."
My, how things have changed. In today's societal climate, could the Detroit Pistons' Bad Boys even exist in the NBA, let alone thrive as back-to-back champions? Could the Pistons have their "Jordan Rules" and deliver their hard-edged message to the rest of the Chicago Bulls?
When Pat Riley was in New York, the Knicks had their "no-layups" mentality. An opponent would never expect a hand up off the floor from Charles Oakley or Patrick Ewing, just a snarl.
Flip the pages of the calendar to 1998 and the New York-Miami series and the enduring image is of Jeff Van Gundy on the floor and clinging to the ankle of Alonzo Mourning during a bench-clearing brawl between the Knicks and Heat. Earlier this season, when the Cavs and Heat met in Miami, James and his buddy Dwyane Wade took turns exchanging circus shots and warm smiles with each other.
"The reason they do that is they all played on the Olympic team for a period of time. They became teammates, became friends and I think it takes away from the intensity of what Magic is talking about," Celtics Hall of Famer John Havlicek said on the eve of his 70th birthday. "Back in my day, it did seem more intense. Tom Heinsohn and Tom Meschery fought every game they ever played in, I think. There weren't too many they didn't fight in. Believe me, there were real rivalries."
Bird and the statesmanlike Julius Erving once exchanged blows while running down the court in Boston during an exhibition game. When Kevin McHale did his infamous clothesline takedown of Kurt Rambis in Game 4 of the 1984 NBA Finals, Heinsohn, doing the color commentary for CBS Sports, shrugged into the microphone and said, "Well, there is strategy in the game."
Wade listens to the stories and figures you might as well be talking about cavemen beating each other over the head with clubs.
"It's a different game," Wade said. "When Magic was playing, they could take guys down. They could knock each other out. They could knock each other's teeth out and it ain't like there was gonna be any technical fouls or fines. We can't do that. We can't be the Bad Boys Pistons. We miss five games with a suspension if we do something like that, try to play that way.
"We respect those guys. We respect what Magic and Larry and those guys did for the game. But it's a totally different day and age. A lot of us are friends and are cordial. I think they were, too. They just didn't have as many cameras in their faces all the time to talk about it."
Johnson shakes his head. He isn't talking about punches or cheap shots or any kind of violence, just the visceral distaste and distrust that were as much a part of the uniform as short shorts in the 1980s and '90s.
Magic says while he and former pal Isiah Thomas may have exchanged kisses before the opening tip of their Finals meetings in 1988 and 1989, as soon as the ball went up, there was not an ounce of love lost between them.
"Hey, there's been a few teams I've hated," James said. "I hated the Washington Wizards when we played them in the past in the playoffs and the regular season. Every time I saw them, I disliked them, I hated them. I don't know why. I just did.
"But you can't compare today and the way it's officiated and legislated to the old days. If you remember Rambis going in for that layup and getting clotheslined by McHale, then you remember that all McHale got was a personal foul. If you did that in today's game, you'd be out for a long time. There are different rules."
So is it no touching guards on the on the perimeter and only being allowed to use one hand on defense in the post that's taken the bite out of rivalries? Is it those golden Olympic bonds? Or is simply because it takes familiarity to breed contempt and the modern rivalries haven't had a chance to fester yet?
The Lakers and Nuggets could possibly have a return pairing of last year's Western Conference finals. Cleveland and Orlando are 1-2 in the East and seem headed for another showdown. A Lakers-Magic rematch in the Finals could roil old feelings.
Are bitter rivalries a thing of the past or ready to bloom?
Remember what LeBron said about the Celtics: "They don't like us, we don't like them."
There's hope yet.
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