From my Lakers championship story last night and a half-drunk @kylekuzma: “It’s remarkable. We are such a mentally tough team. Everybody sacrificed something for the betterment of the team.”https://t.co/XyWMZ38c1I
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) October 12, 2020
It was a long time coming also for the legions of Lakers fans, who are frankly unaccustomed to going a decade without an NBA championship and rejoicing at the return to glory now.
The Lakers’ only other such drought in the past 50 years started after their 1987-88 NBA championship won in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s age-40 season, the penultimate season of his career. It’s fair to start wondering whether James, who turns 36 in December, can produce that kind of excellence in longevity. It would likely see him overtake Abdul-Jabbar as the league’s all-time leading scorer despite losing much of 2019 to injury and 2020 to the pandemic.
James was this team’s true captain, offering “must-win” text messages to teammates to spur their Game 4 and Game 6 victories. He delivered 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists against just one turnover Sunday after urging his teammates to “treat it like it was Game 7.”
James made the most of this entire bubble opportunity the NBA created to finish his second Lakers season. He became the only players besides Abdul-Jabbar and legendary Boston Celtics Bill Russell and Sam Jones to appear in 10 NBA Finals series. Once there, he earned his fourth Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP award, but his first with the Lakers—a distinction that matters to him.
Good stuff as always from blog favorite, Kevin Ding.