According to LeBron James, who led the Los Angeles Lakers to the championship that year, it was the game in its purest form. “I agree when a lot of people say it’s the purest form of hoops. Like, it was strictly basketball. We all have the ability to do whatever we want in life. We’ve made a bunch of money, and have all the access, but that was gone in the bubble. You can’t just ‘I’m about to go to a restaurant’ or ‘I’m about to do this’ — you can’t do none of that. Everything in the bubble was strictly about basketball,” said James on ‘Mind the Game’ podcast with Steve Nash. “Obviously, we were there talking a lot about the off-the-court thing going on like social injustice, and police brutality, but when the basketball portion was the focus, that’s all it was. Of all my championships I’ve won, that level of focus… like, how long can you maintain your focus to get the job done? You have all the reasons you want to get out of focus because you’re so accustomed to a certain lifestyle that you’re like, ‘to hell with this, I don’t want to do this, why am I here?’ I can’t get a certain meal, I can’t do this, I can’t see my family, and you can very easily get out of why you’re there.”
Source: Yahoo! Sports
Source: Yahoo! Sports
What’s the buzz on Twitter?
NBA on ESPN @ESPNNBA
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joined Rick Barry, Dwayne Wade and LeBron James with back-to-back Finals games of 30+ points and 3+ steals 👀 pic.x.com/ZkwnyWxKJy – 4:37 PM
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joined Rick Barry, Dwayne Wade and LeBron James with back-to-back Finals games of 30+ points and 3+ steals 👀 pic.x.com/ZkwnyWxKJy – 4:37 PM
Sam Amick @sam_amick
List of players to average at least 30 points, six assists, five rebounds, and 1.8 steals on a deep playoff run (16 games or more)…
Michael Jordan (four times)
LeBron James (two times)
And….
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
That’s it.
(h/t @Stathead)
nytimes.com/athletic/64129… – 12:25 PM
List of players to average at least 30 points, six assists, five rebounds, and 1.8 steals on a deep playoff run (16 games or more)…
Michael Jordan (four times)
LeBron James (two times)
And….
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
That’s it.
(h/t @Stathead)
nytimes.com/athletic/64129… – 12:25 PM
Lev Akabas @LevAkabas
The NBA equivalent of this French Open final is Knicks Pacers G1, except if it was Kobe vs LeBron, it was Game 7 of the Finals, and OT lasted for two hours
Simply one of the greatest sports matches ever – 2:59 PM
The NBA equivalent of this French Open final is Knicks Pacers G1, except if it was Kobe vs LeBron, it was Game 7 of the Finals, and OT lasted for two hours
Simply one of the greatest sports matches ever – 2:59 PM
More on this storyline
The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis: “Basketball used to be a poor man’s game… now it’s a rich kid game… There’s no imagination. Everybody’s doing the same thing. And I think a lot of that is due sometimes to having trainers.” @Money23Green reflects on what LeBron said about youth trainers vs. real hoopers — and how the game’s roots are fading. -via Twitter / June 10, 2025
James discussed the bubble on the latest episode of “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash and stressed that it was pure hoops: “I agree with what a lot of people say that it’s the purest form of hoops. It was strictly basketball. We all have the ability to do whatever we want in life. We’ve made a bunch of money, we have all the access. That’s gone in the bubble. You can’t just say oh, I’m about to go to a restaurant or I’m about to do this. You can’t do none of that. Everything in the bubble was strictly about basketball. And obviously we were there talking about a lot of off-the-court things that were going on, the social injustice and police brutality and all that stuff, rightfully so. But when the basketball portion was the focus, that’s all it was. Of all my championships I’ve won, that level of focus, how long can you maintain your level of focus in order to get the job done? Because you have all the reasons if you want to get out of focus because you’re so accustomed to a certain lifestyle that you’re like to hell with this, I don’t wanna do this, why am I here? I don’t want to be a part of this, I can’t get a certain meal, I can’t do this, I can’t see my family, I can’t lock in… And you can very easily get out of why you’re there.” -via Lakers Nation / June 10, 2025
While LeBron James is considered one of the greatest players of all time, he hasn’t received his flowers as a one-on-one player. On this note, former NBA player Michael Beasley recently claimed to have beaten the Lakers forward in a 1v1 game. He even claimed to have blown him out while on a livestream, joining popular streamer Adin Ross. Ross: “Did you beat LeBron in a 1v1?” Beasley: “Yeah. I mean, the story is told wrong.” -via Yahoo! Sports / June 10, 2025