LeBron James refused to take the bait when asked about the gravity of playing against his former team, the Miami Heat, in the championship.
“It’s no extra meaning to winning a championship, no matter who you’re playing against,” James said during NBA Finals media day on Tuesday. “It’s already hard enough to even reach the Finals, to be in this position. If you’re able to become victorious out of the Finals, it doesn’t matter who it’s against.”
“I’ve been as locked in as I’ve ever been in my career.” – @KingJames pic.twitter.com/zn9O075xMp
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) September 29, 2020
James, who won his first two titles with the Heat in 2013 and 2014, left the team in a surprise move to return to Cleveland and bring the Cavs their first championship.
Now in his 10th Finals and looking or his fourth ring, James is teaming up with Anthony Davis as members of one of the league’s most storied franchises, second only to the Boston Celtics in title wins.
“To be back in the Finals against Miami, I think, means a lot more to him winning this than anyone else,” Davis said. “I think this championship is probably second behind Cleveland, being able to get this one for him.”
The fact that the league is holding a title series wasn’t a certainty just a few months ago.
But the NBA bubble has held firm, with no players getting infected on the grounds in Orlando.
“It’s probably been the most challenging thing I’ve ever done as far as a professional, as far as committing to something and actually making it through,” James said when asked about life in the NBA bubble. “But I knew when I was coming what we were coming here for. I would be lying if I sat up here and knew that everything inside the bubble, the toll that it would take on your mind and your body, and everything else because it’s been extremely tough. But I’m here for one reason and one reason only, and that’s to compete for a championship.”
The Lakers and Heat play Game 1 Wednesday night.