The Los Angeles Lakers have risen back to the top of the NBA mountain, defeating the Miami Heat in six games to win the 2020 NBA championship. For LeBron James it was his fourth career championship and as has been customary every single time he’s won, he was a unanimous selection for the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award.
With that, James becomes the first player in NBA history to win Finals MVP with three different franchises and he also is second all-time behind Michael Jordan who has six.
LeBron was more than deserving of the award as he led the Lakers in points, rebounds, and assists. He capped things off with a triple-double of 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists to ensure the Lakers would take home the Larry O’Brien trophy.
This was coming off an unbelievable 40-point, 13-rebound, seven-assist performance in Game 5 as well as 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in Game 4.
There were a ton of questions surrounding James coming into the season. His first season with the Lakers was a bit of a disappointment and he suffered his first real injury. Heading into his 17th season many wondered if James could still play at the highest of levels and he answered that emphatically.
LeBron finished second in regular season MVP voting with many believing he should have taken home the award, but the most important accomplishment for the Lakers was always going to be the championship.
And with James winning Finals MVP, that he and the Lakers accomplished that important team goal.
The Heat were a challenging opponent with Jimmy Butler doing everything in his power to will them to wins. But in the end James left no doubt as to who was still at the top of the NBA’s hierarchy.
LeBron had to play at this level in order for the Lakers to get that ring and now no one can argue his greatness.
Lakers tie Celtics for most championships in NBA history
In winning their 17th title, the Lakers have tied the Boston Celtics for the most championships in NBA history. Of those, five were won while the team was led by George Mikan in Minneapolis. The Lakers won back-to-back in 1949 and 1950 followed by three straight from 1952-54.
In 1972 they won the franchise’s sixth title and first in Los Angeles. That was accomplished by the Hall of Fame trio of Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain and Gail Goodrich. Things really picked up in the 1980s with the historic ‘Showtime’ era driven by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and James Worthy.
The Lakers won championships in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988, defeating the Celtics for two of those.
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal would then bring three straight between 2000 and 2002, having one of the most dominant runs in the history of the league. Bryant would then bring the Lakers back with Pau Gasol as his co-star, winning back-to-back rings in 2009 and 2010.
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