LeBron James made history Sunday night, and the Los Angeles Lakers are officially back on top of the NBA after a decade-long absence.
In central Florida, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat with a score of 106-93 in the 6th game of the NBA finals.
“It doesn’t matter where it is if you win a championship. A bubble, Miami, Golden State — it doesn’t matter,” James said, “When you get to this point, it’s one of the greatest feelings in the world for a basketball player to be able to win at the highest level.”
Lakers coach Frank Vogel said, “I’ve always believed in our mental toughness, and our experience.” He added, “You know, not just LeBron, I believe Anthony Davis was destined to be a champion, and the pairing of the two of them together, you know, took us here.”
The Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said, “When I took the job, I remember he (Bryant) said, ‘Hey, I know what you did for me for 20 years. I’ll give you two, three years, you’ll fix this. You’ll get the Lakers back on top.'” He added, “I guess you were right, man. You give me the energy to do it.”
Player Rajon Rondo had a grand total of 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 17 points with his top-notch defense.
Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, Pelinka, and senior advisor Kurt Rambis didn’t have to stress out about this game because it was over early. Los Angeles led the game with 23-19 points with 1:38 left in the first quarter and by halftime, the score was 64-36.
The Heat lost to the team who had more talent, however, it was impressive to see the South Beach team reach the finals and force the Lakers to six games. If it wasn’t for Goran Dragic’s torn plantar fascia and Bam Adebayo’s strained neck in game 1, Miami could’ve forced a game 7.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “This locker room, regardless of whatever happens in the future, we’re going to remember this year, this season, this experience and that locker room brotherhood for the rest of our lives.” He added, “You’re in this business to be able to be around people like this. And I can go on and on.”
He said, “But the guys that competed and played in this series, we had several guys that were not even close to being a 100%. Probably shouldn’t have been playing, but that’s how this group was. They wanted to do it for each other. And I just, I’m really bummed that we couldn’t find a way to get over the hump and finish the season with a win.”
Jimmy Butler tried to take the Heat as far as they could go. He had triple-doubles in the Heat’s two victories but was only limited to 12-points on 5-of-10 shooting in Game 6.
He said, “I didn’t win, so none of the stats matter.” He added, “We don’t play for stats here. We don’t play for anything else except for the win. I didn’t do that. I didn’t do my job. I’ll be better, along with everybody else. I’ll be better coming back. You sulk on this because of what could have been, but it didn’t happen. We didn’t win, and that’s what you leave this at.”
At the end of the game, Lebron wanted to share the win with owner Jeanie Buss, vice president Rob Pelinka, and coach Frank Vogel and the fans who were there to support, he said, “I told Jeanie when I came here I was going to put this franchise back in the position that it belongs.” He added, “…We just want our respect, Rob wants his respect, coach Vogel wants his respect, the organization wants their respect, Laker nation wants their respect, and I want my damn respect.”
