Last night was a historic night, as the Lakers advanced to the 2020 NBA Finals, their first Finals since the 2010 NBA Finals where Kobe Bryant and the Lakers beat the Celtics in seven games. The Lakers had a very hard series against the Nuggets, but ultimately prevailed in five games behind stellar play from their two superstars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
One of the main points being stated by the Lakers last night was that this is a great accomplishment, but that the job’s not finished. “Job’s not finished” is a classic saying from Kobe Bryant, who said that after being asked about not smiling while being up 2-0 in the 2009 NBA Finals. Frank Vogel said that last night, captured in the video below.
Frank Vogel: “Job is not done” pic.twitter.com/ZeL8ZW7G97
— Lakers Outsiders (@LakersOutsiders) September 27, 2020
LeBron James is nearing a potential legacy moment for his career, as he could win his 4th championship getting him even closer to players like Magic Johnson (five), Kobe Bryant (five), and Michael Jordan (six). He was asked about advancing to the NBA Finals for the 9th time in 10 years last night, stating that it doesn’t matter unless he can win four more games (reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN).
“Right now, it don’t mean s— unless I get it done,” James told ESPN following the Lakers’ 117-107 Game 5 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday to win the Western Conference crown. “I got to get it done.”
New story: Catching up with LeBron James after earning his 10th Finals appearance. What does it mean? “Right now, it don't mean s— unless I get it done,” he told ESPN. “I got to get it done." https://t.co/hkD631paER
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) September 27, 2020
Still, LeBron stated that him and his teammates were going to enjoy this moment, as they don’t come around too often.
“We’re going to enjoy it tonight, as we should, because this is not promised every year,” James said. “There’s only two teams that can advance to the Finals every year. That means pretty much 30 players that only advance every year to the Finals. We’re going to enjoy it tonight, but we understand we have bigger fish to fry. We understand there’s a bigger goal, but we can’t take this for granted because this doesn’t happen every year to anybody.”
Tonight, the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat will play Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. If the Heat win, they will advance to the NBA Finals for the right to face the Lakers. The Celtics would force a Tuesday Game 7 if they win, giving LeBron and Davis some time to rest after they got banged up in the final games of this series against the Nuggets. LeBron appears to be very focused on the task at hand, as do all of the Lakers. Whoever the Lakers play, expect LeBron to come out strong as he realizes he just needs four great performances to win it all.
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