Pat Riley says this Lakers championship will have an asterisk next to it because of the injuries Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo suffered.
Advertisement
The 5th seeded Miami Heat exceeded all expectations in the NBA Finals, as a multitude of NBA analysts and NBA Twitter junkies took the Lakers winning it all with ease.
Surrounded by all the noise about the Heat not being nearly as good as the Lakers, they put up a valiant effort by taking the series to 6 games, all thanks to heroics from their superstar leader, Jimmy Butler.
There is however, a ‘what if’ scenario, and that is, ‘What if Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic played all 6 games of the NBA Finals?’ Miami Heat president Pat Riley is intrigued by this ‘what if’ and commented on it this past Friday.
Pat Riley believes this Lakers championship will have an asterisk next to it
Goran Dragic, who tore his plantar fascia in his right foot, and Bam Adebayo who strained his neck, in Game 1, they missed multiple games of the Finals.
The Heat managed to squeak away 2 wins, even on a depleted roster, so longtime Heat exec Pat Riley commented on this by saying, “I would like to see what it would be like with everybody whole.”
‘They beat us fair and squarely. But there is always that asterisk; if we had Bam and Goran 100%, it might’ve gone to a 7th game.”
Riley did remain confident in his team’s capabilities as he did say, “We’ll get out chance again.”
Does this 2020 title win really have an asterisk?
Almost all NBA championships that are won, can be argued to have some sort of asterisk next to it.
The 2015 Cavs didn’t have Kyrie or Love and lost in 6 to GSW. The 2019 Warriors didn’t have Durant and lost in 6 to the Raptors. The Lakers didn’t have Magic in their 1989 Finals against the Pistons, who ended sweeping the Lakers.
This championship is certainly the most unique in NBA history due to the circumstances concerning the pandemic, so everyone has a different opinion on whether this title was the easiest, or the hardest win in NBA history.
