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When the final series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat begins Wednesday night in the Orlando NBA bubble, LeBron James will be back in focus. Despite being voted MVP for the last time in 2013, the 35-year-old is still the league’s alpha animal. In his second season with the Lakers, he pulled the popular franchise out of its insignificance and returned to the final.
There, “King James” now meets his old love Miami, with whom he won the first two championship titles of his career in 2012 and 2013. In hindsight, one has to speak of “only” two titles. James had promised six or seven on his controversial move to Miami.
“I saw my dynasty fly out the window”
The separation after the final loss in 2014 against San Antonio was anything but friendly. “I was really mad for two or three days,” recalls Heat boss Pat Riley, who won four championships as a Lakers coach in the 1980s. “I saw my dynasty fly out the window. I knew this was a team for ten years. I took it very personally, ”Riley told ESPN of the outing.
After that, there was radio silence between him and LeBron. “When I left Miami, people said I was making the biggest mistake of my career. That hurt, ”says James. Meanwhile, the waves should have smoothed out, but there will be no giveaways in the finale.
With a fourth championship ring, LeBron could close the gap with Michael Jordan (6 titles) in an eternal comparison. And it would take a Lakers season overshadowed by the accidental death of club legend Kobe Bryant († 41) to at least a positive sporting conclusion. The Lakers are definitely in the favorite role thanks to LeBron and his co-star Anthony Davis. (cmü)
