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The sight of LeBron James lifting an NBA Championship MVP trophy from the title series was no surprise, but the path he took to his fourth career crown was anything but ordinary.
“I can’t just sit here and say that one is more challenging than the other or one is more difficult than the other,” James said after capturing his fourth NBA title with a third team and his fourth Most Valuable Player award. the finals.
“I can only say that I have never won with this atmosphere. None of us have. We have never been a part of this.”
This championship series took place in the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida, where teams spent three months finishing a season that had been halted in March by the coronavirus pandemic.
James said that the isolation of the bubble made this title a unique challenge.
“It played with your mind,” he said. “It played with your body. You are away from some of the things that you are so used to to become the professional that you are.
“So this falls short,” he said of where he ranks his first championship with the Los Angeles Lakers, after title runs with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013 and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.
“I heard some rumors from people who are not in the bubble: ‘Oh, you don’t have to travel, whatever. People simply doubt what happens here.
“This is one of the greatest achievements I have ever had.”
All four of James’s Finals MVPs are second only to Michael Jordan’s six.
He is the first player to win four Finals MVP awards with three different teams.
He posted a triple-double of 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in a 106-93 win over the Miami Heat in Game 6.
‘We want respect’
It was his 11th triple-double in the Finals, and he came close to averaging a triple-double in the series with 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game, as he fulfilled the promise he made to Lakers president Jeanie Buss. , when I arrive. in Los Angeles in 2018.
An injury in their first season with the historic club saw them miss the playoffs. They are now tied with the Boston Celtics for the most titles in history at 17.
“We just want our respect,” James said as the Lakers accepted the trophy on the confetti-strewn court. “[General manager Rob Pelinka] wants your respect. Coach [Frank] Vogel wants your respect. Our organization wants your respect. Laker Nation wants your respect.
“And I want my damn respect too,” James said.
And he said the respect was also due to the NBA for putting together the Orlando campus, where there was no positive COVID-19 test among players, and for facilitating the players’ efforts to speak out on issues of social and racial justice.
For most of his time in the bubble, James said, he tried to focus on his competitive task.
“I wanted to keep my energy in the right space,” he said, but added, “For the last few days, you definitely thought about that. You thought about being here, how successful it is.
“I think we can all say from the social injustice talks, voter suppression, police brutality, having this platform, that our players can come together like this, is something that you will miss.”
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