There is no bigger rivalry in basketball than that of the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2008, these two teams met on the grandest stage, with the Celtics emerging as the NBA champs that season after memorably taking down Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals in Boston.

That series was not short of controversy. One of them involved the Celtics having trouble getting out of Los Angeles after losing Game 5 at Staples Center. Apparently, there was a couple of aircraft malfunctions that led to the Celtics getting delayed on their flight back to Boston. According to Boston legend Paul Pierce, they all knew that something just wasn't right:

“The Lakers took off before us,” Pierce said. “We got to the airport before them. Their plane right there. We could see right out the window. We delayed two or three hours. We think something up.”

Then-Celtics coach Doc Rivers echoed Pierce's sentiments. The one-time NBA champion shot-caller just couldn't believe that two of the Lakers' planes departed without issue, while both of the Celtics' aircraft malfunctioned shortly after:

“The Lakers' two planes took off great. We're in LA and now our two planes aren't working, and I was going at it,” Rivers said.

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Rivers said that they were eventually able to fly out of LA by commandeering the team owner's private plane. They ended up landing in Boston at around 10 in the evening — less than 24 hours before they battled the Lakers for Game 6.

In the end, not even a couple of delayed flights were enough to pull down the Celtics. They dominated Kobe and Co. in Game 6, en route to bagging their 17th title in franchise history. It still makes for a very intriguing story to this day, though.