Pat Riley is seen during a press conference prior to the Miami Heat 104-98 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, in Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Finals, at the AmericanAirlinesArena, Miami, Florida, USA.”
The once great Los Angeles Lakers head coach, Pat Riley, had strong words for his former team.
The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat in 6 games in the 2020 NBA Finals.
With all that occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many felt that the NBA Finals would have an asterisk.
But, for different reasons.
Reasons such as players had numerous months away from the game to heel up and get ready for a playoff run.
Well, the Lakers are now the Bubble Champs.
Miami Heat president, Pat Riley, claims that the Lakers should have an asterisk for another reason.
Riley Claims Lakers Championship Should Have An Asterisk
In his presser this past Friday reflecting on the year, Riley shared his thoughts on the future of the Miami Heat.
While he was pleased with the effort displayed by his guys throughout the bubble, he knew that they were shorthanded.
As a result, he felt the Lakers NBA Championship should be stamped with an asterisk.
Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, reported what Riley had to say:
“I would like to see what it would be like with everybody whole. We’ll get our chance again…They beat us fair and squarely. But there will always be that asterisk; if we had Bam and Goran 100 percent — Goran was our leading scorer — it might have gone to a seventh game.”
Riley understood that the Lakers caught a break with certain injuries.
But, after all, injuries are apart of the game that have hurt other teams in the past.
The Heat president did acknowledge that the Lakers do have the best player on the planet.
Pat Riley on LeBron James: “The greatest player in the game today.”
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) October 23, 2020
It is worth noting that Riley feels very optimistic about the future of the Miami Heat.
Did The Los Angeles Lakers Get Lucky?
The debates that were sparked after the Lakers won were solely centered on whether or not LeBron James got lucky.
Well, again, luck is apart of the game and apart of any sport, for that matter.
Every team who has had a championship run has caught breaks along the way.
This time around, the Miami Heat lost Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo due to injuries.
Miami’s Goran Dragic has been determined to find a way to play in these NBA Finals with plantar fascia tear in his left foot — and source says he’s been told the injury can’t worsen by playing. Pain has been extreme, and he hadn’t been able to put much pressure on foot.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 11, 2020
Dragic did his best to go out there and play with his teammates in these finals.
While he returned to the court in Game 6, it was obvious he wasn’t 100%.
Bam Adebayo will not play in Game 2 with shoulder injury, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/KLDWkYQQF1
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 2, 2020
Bam made his return in Game 4.
But, it was obvious he was not at 100%.
Regardless, no matter which way you look at it, the Los Angeles Lakers are NBA Champions.
We sure did get robbed of two fantastic cities clashing in the NBA Finals with no traveling due to the pandemic.
Maybe, when things go back to normal, we will get a potential rematch to settle this dispute.
