The rivalry is dead to the players? Tell that to Kobe Bryant, who was taunting the crowd in the fourth quarter, and obnoxiously flinging his jersey during the final timeout of the game to pee off the fans. And the need to bring up the "cheeseburger" during every interview he ever gives before, during, and after a game against the Kings. The rivalry is there, and not just to the fans.
You could feel it from the opening tip, with Miller laying out Gasol and Fisher in the first quarter, and the intensity that ensued. Kobe was getting in Moore's face. Pau was flailing punches like a little girl. There's enough bad blood between the players, and not just the fans, to constitute a rivalry.
And when did it become a requirement that a team needs to defeat another team in the playoffs for the "rivalry" to be satisfied. We took them to a decisive game 5 in 2000, and a decisive game 7 in the 2002 WCF (asterisk). There was a fight in almost every game during the series. There was a major fight when Christie pounded Fox... twice... the next season. Yea, we never won a series, but you're blinding yourself if you think there was no rivalry.
It has lost steam, but it will never go away. And it's not just among Kings fans, either. I got 11 text messages last night between 9:30 and 10 pm from Laker fans, ranging from "some things never change" to "this looks familiar" to "scoreboard, byatch!", etc. etc. As much as you laker fans may try to hide it and remain on your high horse, you guys still hate us, we still hate you, and I wouldn't have it any other way. =)