LeBron James Leads 16-Time NBA Champion Lakers Back To Finals For First Time In 10 Years
It's been a long decade.
For a franchise used to winning championships in a city that demands greatness, the Lakers' 10-year NBA Finals drought felt endless.
LeBron James ended that spell Saturday.
With a 117-107 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, the 16-time NBA champion Lakers will once again have the opportunity to compete for a title.
As James sat on the court while confetti streamed down onto him during the Western Conference championship ceremony, many thoughts flooded his mind.
He thought about the Nuggets and their hard-fought series. He thought about who the Lakers will be playing in next round. He thought about how special it is that he's been able to take Anthony Davis further than he's ever gone in his career. And he thought about his own journey that led him to Los Angeles in 2018.
"This is what I came here for," James said. "I heard all the conversations and everything that was said about why did I decide to come to L.A. The reason I came to L.A., it was not about basketball. All those conversations, just naysayers and things of that nature. I understood that, with the season I had last year and my injury, it just gave them more sticks and more wood to throw in the fire to continue to say the things that they would say about me. But it never stopped my journey and never stopped my mindset and never stopped by goal."
In fact, it fueled it.
Lakers coach Frank Vogel said James has played with a "chip on his shoulder all year long."
And it was never more evident than in the fourth quarter Saturday.
After the Nuggets, who overcame two 3-1 series deficits in the first two rounds of the playoffs, clawed their way out of a 16-point third quarter hole to tie the score at 84-84 with 11 seconds left in the third quarter, James pulled his teammates aside.
"He told me it was his time," said Davis, who had 27 points and five rebounds. "...Everybody just kind of got out of the way and let him be him."
James had 16 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter, scoring a dizzying nine-straight points after a scrappy Nuggets team crept to within four points of the Lakers with 4 minutes and 35 seconds left. He also had 16 rebounds and 10 assists, finishing with his 27th triple-double in the playoffs, just three shy of Magic Johnson for the all-time record.
"I don't know if I've ever witnessed a guy take over the game the way he did in the fourth quarter tonight in person," Vogel said. "It was remarkable."
It was another incredible performance for the 35-year-old, who will be making his ninth NBA Finals appearance in the last 10 years after leading the Miami Heat (2011-2014) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (2015-2018) there eight-straight seasons before missing the playoffs in his first season with the Lakers in 2019 while struggling with a groin injury.
Over the last 17 years, there's been a lot of ups.
But there's also been a lot of downs. A lot of scrutiny. A lot of criticism.
James was lambasted after leaving Cleveland via a glitzy announcement on national television. His success in the Eastern Conference always came with an asterisk, with people wondering if he'd fare as well in the West. And when he chose to come to the Lakers, his motives were questioned.
But James always did what he thought was right. Not what others told him was right for him.
"I've been able to, I guess as Frank Sinatra would say, I did it my way," he said.
Now, after having another MVP-caliber season, he's led the Lakers to being just four wins away from retaking the NBA's throne.
For a franchise that missed the playoffs six-straight seasons and then suffered the tragic loss of Kobe Bryant in January, he just had one wish.
James wanted 19,000 other people to be living this moment with him.
"I wish we were in Staples Center tonight with our fans, with our Laker faithful, because they deserve this as much as we do because they went through the last so many years of not being in a postseason run, feeling like their franchise would never get back to this moment," he said. "But they continued to stay faithful. It would have been great to celebrate with them tonight."
