The NBA: Where 'Bringing the NFL Back to Los Angeles' Happens

NBA Endgame will preview Celtics-Lakers from all angles. Right now: silly mayor wagers!

Before every championship game or series, it's a tradition for the mayors of each respective city to make a friendly (but predictable) wager with each other. Case in point: by beating the Penguins last night, the Red Wings did more than bring the Stanley Cup back to the Motor City; they also ensured Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick would be receiving a gift basket containing Heinz Ketchup, Primanti Sandwiches and an octopus from Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

Ketchup and sammiches? Seriously? Yawn. Not even the octopus sounds all that appetizing, especially considering Greektown is just down the block from Detroit's city hall.

Fortunately, Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is stepping things up with his proposal to Boston's Thomas Menino for the NBA Finals. You can read his full letter below the jump, but here's the good part:

If the Celtics win, we'll send you the best professional football team L.A. has to offer: the Arena League's Los Angeles Avengers.

If the Lakers win, we get the Patriots.

I know what you might be thinking: "Villaraigosa must be nuts! Bostonians would make out like bandits in that deal! With an indoor arena team, the fans would not have to risk frostbite to see a mid-September game. And with the smaller field, our coaches wouldn't even need cameras to steal opponents' signals."

[...] I look forward to your response and a great finals series. My only regret is that I will not be able to visit the Garden for a game. I was hoping to experience first-hand the legendary Bostonian hospitality and sportsmanship.

Sounds like a fair deal to me, right? All of that sitting out in the cold does get pretty old after awhile. I'm surprised he finished with that subtle dig at Boston's fans, though. Yeah, they're awfully quick with the "Bulls--t" chants after a bad call, but he's leaving himself wide open to a comeback about the Lakers' notorious late-arriving, early-leaving crowd.

Stay tuned for Menino's rebuttal, because I have a hunch he's not going to agree. Here's the full text of the letter.