Lakers vs. Celtics: Still the NBA’s most colorful rivalry

The green sweater vest resides in what Mike Brown describes as “the dungeon area” of his house, never to be seen again.

At least not around the Lakers.

Being new to the team, the first-year coach once made the mistake of dressing in a color that makes everyone associated with the franchise see red.

“I wore green and somebody walked up to me and said, ‘Nah nah nah nah nah nah,’” Brown recalled in January. “And I said, ‘Why?’ I didn’t understand that the Boston-Lakers rivalry was that deep that I couldn’t wear a green sweater vest, so it’s been shelved ever since.”

The hatred between the NBA’s most storied franchises lingers heading into their showdown Sunday at Staples Center, even if they have fallen off more than a bit since meeting in the 2010 Finals.

If the playoffs started Sunday, the Lakers (24-16) would be the fourth-seeded team in the Western Conference and the Celtics (21-18) would be seeded seventh in the East.

It’s not exactly Chicago versus Oklahoma City in terms of intrigue.

Or is it?

“Despite our record or their record or whatever people think about our teams as we stand today, the reality is that in the last four years, these two teams have won three championships,” Lakers guard Derek Fisher said Saturday. “Just about all the main characters in those movies are still here, so it still should be a lot of fun.”

Each team certainly has its share of stars about to walk into the sunset of their careers. Fisher is 37, Kobe Bryant is 33 and Metta World Peace is 31.

The Celtics arrived in Los Angeles as something of an antiques road show, toting Ray Allen (36), Kevin Garnett (35) and Paul Pierce (34).

Boston’s Big Three might have aged even more as trade rumors swirled amid a disappointing start in which the team lost eight of its first 12 games. Danny Ainge, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations, said he would consider trading part of his team’s aging core if he thought it would help the franchise avoid a return to its dark age of the late 1990s.

The Celtics have since moved back into the playoff picture and enter Sunday having won six of seven games, but there are no assurances their roster will remain intact by Thursday’s trade deadline.

Uncertainty also hovers like a dark cloud over the Lakers, who have endured periods of frustration while trying to learn the offensive and defensive systems preferred by their new coach.

Brown encouraged his assistant coaches and veteran players to speak their minds following a team video session Thursday, a day after the Lakers suffered a second consecutive road loss against one of the league’s worst teams.

Forward Pau Gasol said he spoke about “being on the same page, holding each other accountable.” Fisher said he asked his teammates how badly they wanted to win another title.

Brown downplayed the significance of the group discussion Saturday, saying it was something that routinely happened during the season. He also didn’t seem to learn much about his players.

“The reality of it is, some of it, I don’t even remember what guys said,” Brown said. “I was just trying to get guys to talk, that’s all.”

Fisher compared the Lakers to a family working through its differences.

“There are some cousins at Christmas dinner that we wish weren’t there,” Fisher said. “But they’re part of the family and you have to welcome them and do your thing and then you’ll see them next Christmas.

“In this business, you have to see them every day. So sometimes it’s not flowing the way you would like it to, but we’ve been pretty good at figuring out how to work through those things and we’ll continue to do it that way.”

When it comes to the Celtics, seeing them once a year is too often for the Lakers.

ben.bolch@latimes.com