After bouts with the Portland Trailblazers, Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers have extinguished the Miami Heat and have won the 2020 NBA Finals. A season clouded by the ongoing pandemic and the loss of former Laker and basketball legend Kobe Bryant has ended with the franchise clinching its 17th overall championship. 

“We just want our respect,” a poised LeBron James said during the Larry O’Brien trophy presentation. “Rob [Pelinka, Lakers’ general manager] wants his respect. Coach [Frank] Vogel wants his respect. Our organization wants their respect. Laker Nation wants their respect. And I want my damn respect, too.”

Apart from becoming the first player in NBA history to win three separate Finals MVPs with three different teams, James also set another milestone on the night of their win by participating in his record-breaking 260th playoff game appearance and registering 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists.

“I told Jeanie [Buss, Lakers’ owner] when I came here that I was gonna put this franchise back in the position where it belongs,” James said in a post-game interview. “For me to be part of such a historical franchise is an unbelievable feeling, not only for myself but for my teammates, for the organization, for the coaches, for the trainers. Everybody that’s here.”

Anthony Davis also played a pivotal role in the team’s push for the title along with James. After being traded from the New Orleans Pelicans last summer in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and the number 4 overall draft pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, the bigman’s stint in LA has so far proven to be a fruitful one. Throughout the series, Davis was able to average an impressive 25.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Yet, despite these notable offensive statistics, it was the first-time champion’s contributions on the defensive front that proved essential to negating Miami’s firepower, with averages of 2.0 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.

While they may have flamed out in Game 6’s blowout loss, this gritty Heat team still overcame formidable opponents in their inspiring run through the Eastern Conference. Miami started the season with 75-1 odds of reaching the NBA Finals, the lowest odds to reach a Finals since the 2001-2002 New Jersey Nets.. As the fifth seed, they were able to oust the in-form Indiana Pacers in the first round, reigning two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukie Bucks in the second and the young, well-coached Boston Celtics in the Conference Championship.

“These are going to be lifetime memories that we have together,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra expressed as he attempted to hold back tears during his final post-game press conference. “Regardless of whatever happens in the future, we’re going to remember this year, this season, this experience and that locker-room brotherhood for the rest of our lives.”

In retrospect, to be able to see-out the last three months of the NBA season in a quarantined bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort with no positive COVID-19 tests is simply remarkable. All the roughly 30,000 employees, the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver have been commended for their tremendous effort, especially considering how other sporting entities such as the NFL and MLB have struggled at times to cope with the spread of the virus across their leagues. Like the Lakers in these Finals, Adam Silver has once again stepped up and delivered when it has mattered most.

After a 10-year championship drought for the LA franchise, in a decade when LeBron James reached nine out of ten NBA Finals, it appears that The King has made true on the promise made when he signed: he has reclaimed the throne of the basketball world for the Lakers. The organization with the most playoff wins is now partnered with the player with the most playoff wins. If this all-time irregular season is anything to go by, it is going to take a whole lot to stop this dynamic duo from adding to their trophy cabinets.