The LA Lakers Get Number 12
So the Los Angeles Lakers just won their twelfth NBA Finals. They did it on the backs of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but mostly LeBron James. This raises a lot of questions, not all about the Lakers. Are the Lakers primed to win even more titles after this year? What does this do for LeBron’s legacy? Were the Miami Heat ever even a good match, or are they merely one solid piece and an injury or two away from winning it all? Is the Rest of the NBA in trouble as to whether or not a new dynasty is being formed? These are all pretty fun questions to ponder, so that’s exactly what I plan to do here for the next however many words. Oh, and yes, I did say twelfth championship. The Lakers do not get the Minnesota titles. How many titles do the Oklahoma City Thunder have? That would be correct, they have zero. You guys have twelve. Quit being so selfish.
The most fun question in the bunch up above is the one about LeBron’s legacy. LeBron James is a top ten NBA player of all time. Roughly 12,000 people have played in the NBA. Saying James is top ten all time is not an insult please for the love of all that is holy stop acting like it is. For me this title puts James at number four all time. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabar precede James, in that order. What James has done, going to nine of the last ten NBA Finals, has not been seen since Bill Russell won eleven out of thirteen titles. James winning three titles with three teams as the unquestioned alpha dog and number one option on each and every team has literally never been seen. These are the types of qualifications that make a person a top five NBA player of all time. That is exactly what James is. There are reasons he will never pass Jordan for the number one spot, however, that is an article for another day because I have way too many thoughts on that particular argument for this article. James claimed after this Finals win that he needed to be given the respect he deserved. If being on the Mount Rushmore of the NBA is not enough respect, then maybe it’s your definition of respect that needs to change.
Whether or not the NBA needs to worry about the Lakers long term and whether or not they are primed for more titles can kind of be answered at the same time, so I am going to save myself a bit of time and do just that. The answer, though it may surprise you is, maybe. I know, truly insightful. The real thing to watch here has very little to do with the Lakers themselves. Again this one may seem obvious but it is far more nuanced than I am making it seem. A team with LeBron James and Anthony Davis is going to be able to make the second round of the Western Conference Finals with a supporting cast of thirteen Mario Hezonia’s. The Lakers have a good supporting cast, and even if they do move on from guys like Danny Green and Rajon Rondo, they can be replaced. Remember, Avery Bradley did not play in the bubble. Now he may leave too but that’s beside the point.
The Brooklyn Nets will be at full strength this year. The Golden State Warriors will be at full strength this year. The Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat will both be improving, in theory, and the Philadelphia 76ers have finally ditched the anchor to success that was Brett Brown. The West will continue to be a murderers row, and the East is prepared to finally have multiple legitimate threats to the throne rather than just one or two. The rest of the NBA’s contenders have no real reason to be concerned with a potential new Lakers dynasty. At the same time, these contenders do need to understand that in all likelihood, the Lakers will be back and ready to go next year, and they can beat your team in a seven game series. That seems like a relatively obvious statement, it is literally their jobs to be prepared, and frankly it was. No team is going to overlook a team with LeBron James on it. That is the point. This team cannot be overlooked as the rest of the NBA contenders get stronger. This team will as well. Even if they do not reload, they are plenty strong enough to be right back in the Finals next year.
Lastly, let us just take a second and appreciate the way that the Miami Heat played in the bubble. All we heard throughout the playoffs was “the culture” in Miami and how much Jimmy Butler loved it. It may have been annoying but it is true. The way the Heat are built is with an edge. Pat Riley is also very much not about to cater to any superstar in order to bring them into the fold, not that they could afford it right now. This team is built to be successful right now, and for the near future. With another year under the belts of Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro, plus one or two veteran free agents, this team will be a top four seed in the East next year and Jimmy Butler will single-handedly win multiple games in the postseason. He did it this year, he will do it next year. If he is not currently in your top ten NBA players right now list, your list is wrong. I am not a Heat fan. I never will be. This team however, is very exciting. Do not be surprised if this team is right back in the Finals in 2021. This year was absolutely not a fluke.