Photo Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Pat Riley On Lakers Finals Win Over Heat: “There Will Be Always Be That Asterisk”
Two weeks ago today, the Los Angeles Lakers won the 17th title in franchise history, the first one after a 10-year title draught, and had themselves a huge party.
Many people think that there is an asterisk next to the Lakers’ championship, due to the coronavirus NBA bubble situation, even though they were the deserving champions.
Miami Heat president, Pat Riley now also said that there’ll always be that asterisk next to this year’s title, but not for the same reason.
In an interview with the Miami Herald, Riley revealed that while the Lakers beat the Heat fair and square in six games, he believes that if the Heat hadn’t lost both Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic in Game 1 of the Finals, that would not have been the case.
“I would like to see what it would be like with everybody whole. We’ll get our chance again. The Lakers have the greatest player in the game today in LeBron [James] and Anthony Davis.
They beat us fair and squarely. But there will be always be that asterisk; if we had Bam and Goran 100 percent — Goran was our leading scorer [entering the Finals] — it might have gone to a seventh game.”
