Tuesday, October 13, 2020

The G.O.A.T and the Lakers Win the Championship

         The Los Angeles Lakers are the winners of the 2020 NBA Championship which marks their 17th as a franchise putting them in a tie for 1st with the Celtics. In what was an unprecedented season that almost took a full year to complete, the Lakers basically dominated the playoffs. At first, they looked rusty and the doubters had everyone else winning but the Lakers but once the playoffs started they won each of the first 3 series by 4-1 and was up 3-1 in the last before giving up and game and winning it 4-2. The majority of analysts seemed to think the Clippers were the best in the league with the best player in the league. It turns out they were wrong about both. The lakers as a whole are a veteran team with most of the guys playing over 30. Out of the guys who got significant time in the playoffs all of them are over 25 with 8 total players out of the 17 man roster over 30. Anthony Davis needs to be resigned but if they can get the bulk of these guys back and LeBron stays healthy they might have a chance next year. The bubble ran from July to October with no positive tests which was a success but it had to be difficult staying there the whole time and playing without fans. The two key players other than the stars this postseason was Caldwell-Pope and Rondo with Green as probably the worst player. 


        We make our way to the G.O.A.T LeBron James who won his 4th NBA Championship and 4th NBA Finals MVP. After the injury, last year and even when he initially moved to LA analyst said "This is for just the movies, Hollywood lifestyle", "He can't win in the West it is too hard", "The injury is the beginning of the end", "He is done making the finals", and "Kawhi Leonard the best player in the league." That doesn't count the trolls or the Skip Bayless's in the world who want to find something wrong with everything LeBron does. In his 9th NBA Finals in 10 years and his 10th overall he led his team to the best regular-season record in the West and finished second in the MVP race. With all the negativity and the doubters can we blame him for wanting his damn respect or telling all the haters that he did it. We all know the LeBron James story and where his journey began so I don't know what he is going to say at the Hall of Fame speech but with as much hate as he receives because of the platforms the haters have now he should say whatever he wants.  The comparisons with Jordan will continue to happen no matter how many people want it to stop and have this fantasy idea of who Jordan was but one of them continues to add to his resume and the other, well the other retired 3 times. If he ever got to 6 rings the conversation would almost be over because only two main things seem to argue when saying Jordan is better than LeBron which is the 6-0 Finals record and the making of super teams. The first one is true but it is a team sport and it takes a team to when championships. With that said though if he got to 6 and goes to 12 or 13 that is better than the perfect record every day of the week. Right now as it stands LeBron has led teams to the Finals over half his career. The second sticking point the LeBron versus Jordan conversation is the fact he had to create superteams. You can really only make the case he created one superteam and with that said the Cavs organization had 7 years to improve the team and they didn't. The competition he has faced in the Finals by year looks like this 3 HOF, 2 HOF, 3 HOF, 5 HOF, 4 HOF, 3 HOF, 3 HOF, 4 HOF, 4 HOF, and this year he got an easy one with maybe 1 and probably none. At this point, the Hall of Famers are predictions on some of them but the probability for them is high. The talent he went up against in the Finals is easily greater than anything anyone has faced and to come out of it with 4 championships on 3 different teams is a testament to his greatness. The King's reign won't last forever but if you are a fan of the NBA, appreciate a once in a lifetime player because The G.O.A.T only has a few more years.  





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