Lakers and LeBron to play Heat in Finals
Purple-and-gold confetti fell on LeBron James late Saturday night as he sat on the court in a largely empty arena and digested the fresh reality that he was headed to his ninth NBA finals in 10 seasons. One of the first people he thought about was Anthony Davis, his teammate on the Los Angeles Lakers.
“This is the reason why I wanted to be a teammate of his and why I brought him here,” James said after the Lakers closed out the Denver Nuggets with a 117-107 win in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals. “I wanted him to see things that he had not seen before in this league. To be able to come through for him meant a lot for me personally.”
Their partnership has the Lakers four wins from the franchise’s 17th championship —the Lakers will face the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals on Wednesday — and it has been mutually beneficial from the beginning. Davis, 27, recalled an early conversation with James, 35, after they became teammates before the start of the season.
“When I first got here, he told me that he wants to give me my first ring,” Davis said. “And I told him that I want to get him back to the finals.”
The Lakers have endured their share of adversity this season — the league’s longest season, by the calendar. They mourned the death of Kobe Bryant in January. After a four-month hiatus brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, the Lakers traveled to Walt Disney World for the NBA’s restart with their lofty goals intact: championship or bust.
“It’s been a crazy obstacle course for our franchise,” James said.
On Saturday, James was at his best, which is saying a lot: 38 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists while shooting 15 of 25 from the field. He scored nine straight points for the Lakers late in the fourth quarter.
“It’s incredible,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “When you just step back and look and marvel at what LeBron is doing at this stage of his career, how he continues to find ways to improve and get better, and take whatever team he’s on to new heights, that defines greatness.”