Watch Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Thursday morning (1:45am), full replay at 8am
Wednesday 30 September 2020 07:11, UK
LeBron James pushed back on any notions of acrimony with the Miami Heat, saying his tenure with the team taught him what it takes to win championships.
James wants to beat the Miami Heat. The Miami Heat want to beat James. These shouldn't be surprising notions to anyone, not with a title at stake. But those looking for more acrimony than that they may be disappointed.
The NBA Finals start in the early hours of Thursday morning, live on Sky Sports Arena (1:45am), and the James versus Miami storyline is shaping up as little more than a meeting of the mutual admiration society, albeit with a championship at stake.
James is looking to bring the Los Angeles Lakers back to basketball's mountaintop for the first time since 2010 and the Heat are looking to cap a surprising season with their fourth crown.
"I am here for one reason and one reason only, and that is to compete for a championship," James said on the eve of Game 1 of his 10th finals, where he will be seeking championship ring No 4.
James was asked any number of different ways on Tuesday about his time in Miami, his thoughts on coach Erik Spoelstra, his opinion of Heat president Pat Riley. He never took the bait, speaking only with fondness for the four years he spent in Miami and the two titles the Heat won during that stay.
"Being a part of that culture allowed me to grow, allowed me to see what it takes to not only compete for a championship but also to win a championship," James said. "So, it definitely put me in a position where I knew what it took. I saw what it took. But also, I fit that culture as well because of how hard I worked. It was a perfect match for those four years."
James left Miami and the Finals have been an almost-annual stop since. This is his fifth appearance in the title round in the six seasons that followed his Heat tenure. It is the first time Miami have been back since he left.
During that time, the Heat did some rebuilding a couple of times and used 60 different players in those six seasons. Miami also endured the departure, return and then retirement of Dwyane Wade and the premature end of Chris Bosh's career for health reasons.
Spoelstra is designing a game plan with hopes of keeping James in some sort of check, of course. That doesn't mean he didn't speak with reverence when asked about the Lakers best player.
"I just think it is a true testament to his greatness to be able to sustain this type of success year in, year out," Spoelstra said. "Different uniforms, new players and new teams going after him. It is a real testament to that commitment. He has seen everything. At this point in his career, it is just about winning. And his ability to do what he does at his age is incredibly uncommon. But there's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to be able to maintain that."
The feeling is mutual.
James said of Spoelstra: "I am not going to sit up here and act like I don't know what 'Spo' is all about, because he is damned good, if not great."
And Riley? "This league is not the same without 'Riles'. He is a great guy, great motivator, someone that just knows what it takes to win," he said.
No shade thrown there.
Anthony Davis is in the Finals for the first time and, although the Lakers are comfortable favourites, he isn't expecting it to be easy.
"Miami are a special team," Davis said. "They are a team who a lot of people thought they shouldn't be here, but they are a team who fights. They are a team (that is) tough. They make big-time plays, got big-time players on their team, guys who are in their first year, second years who are playing huge for them right now with a lot of confidence."
Looking past the James versus Heat notions, this is a Finals series with much to offer.
Davis will go head to head with Miami's rising star Bam Adebayo. There will be times when veteran point guards - Rajon Rondo for the Lakers, Goran Dragic for the Heat - match up as well. Miami have the young shooters in Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson; the Lakers have veterans like JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard ready to work down low. Heat captain Udonis Haslem said it's going to be a "hell of a match-up".
"I know the narrative that people will try to preach, Haslem, the only player on all six of Miami's Finals teams," told The Associated Press. "But I want my guys to understand that it is not about LeBron. It is about the Heat versus the Lakers. LeBron played here. This has nothing to do with that. None of these guys were here when that happened. It's the Miami Heat versus the Los Angeles Lakers. That's it."
Watch Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Thursday morning (1:45am), full replay at 8am
