Getty LeBron James and Rajon Rondo of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat will play in Game 5 of the NBA Finals at the NBA Bubble in Orlando, Florida.
Guided by head coach Frank Vogel, the Lakers currently hold a 3-1 lead and can close it out tonight.
Will they?
“Yeah definitely,” Jemele Hill told me on today’s episode of Heavy Live With Scoop B.
“I think they end this. I have to say I did think this was going to be a little bit more of a challenging series for them just because some of the matchups and the way Miami was playing coming out of the Eastern Conference Finals. They’re a very hard nosed team and they can create a lot of problems, but obviously injuries have played a role in it and you know, also lack of experience. For many of them, this is the furthest they’ve ever gotten and even though I know it’s the bubble and it’s not the traditional Finals experience, the fact that LeBron played in so many Finals games; just the Finals is important… to have somebody like Rajon Rondo who is also somebody who is very experienced. I think this is obviously the Lakers’ year and I know there’s going to be some connotation to discredit this championship because of the way it happened but, I think that’s really unfair – and besides, it’s not like the Lakers came out of the blue. They were the favorites at the beginning of the season. So it’s like, the only difference is that they’re playing in Orlando [laughs]… So, yeah. I think this will be another championship for them; I think their 17th of the franchise.”
The Lakers have compiled quite a roster over the Last couple of years. It began when the Lakers signed LeBron James in 2018. Since then the Los Angeles made a blockbuster trade with the New Orleans Pelicans to pair James with Anthony Davis.
GettyLos Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis.
The deal was agreed to June 17, 2019 and to complete it the Lakers shipped Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round picks to the Pelicans to make it happen.
“When we traded for Anthony Davis, it’s made life easier for LeBron,” Lakers legend and Naismith Hall of Famer, Magic Johnson told me.
“LeBron’s made life easier for AD as well.”
Anthony Davis is locked in. “We want to make sure that when we come in, we have one goal in mind and that’s to come together and win a championship,” he told me.
“Do whatever I can to help this team win a championship.
“That’s the main goal. That’s our goal and we are going to come in with the mindset that we’re all thinking. This is the year.”