Just when you believed the heated, "I can't stand to look at your face" rivalries were dead in the NBA, check again.

The rift between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings continues to hit the fan among the players. Postseason games against the Kings during the past two years have been only a pit stop to the Lakers' consecutive NBA titles.

History hasn't stopped the Kings from letting the Lakers know how they feel.

"They all talk too much," said Lakers forward Rick Fox to reporters about the Kings, after the Lakers' victory over the Kings last week. "Yap, yap, yap. What have they done to talk about?"

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said: "If they want to beat the defending champions, going to Las Vegas two nights before the game isn't the [answer]."

That was a crack referring to Vlade Divac, Scot Pollard and injured Chris Webber attending the grand opening of the $265 million Palms Casino Resort, owned by the Maloof family that also owns the Kings.

Kings guard Doug Christie took a calmer approach to the rivalry.