LeBron James Doesn’t Think NBA Finals Being Small-Market Teams Should Matter

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were sent home in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. The Timberwolves went on to lose in the Western Conference Finals to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team that has been the most dominant in the league all season long.

On the other side of the bracket, the Indiana Pacers have had one of the craziest runs to the NBA Finals in league history, completing four 15-point comebacks in the first three rounds and winning three games when trailing by seven or more in the final minute. But the Thunder-Pacers Finals — lacking in big-market appeal or significant star power — became a topic of discussion prior to the start of the series.

James, a player who has been in a major market for half of his career and turned Cleveland into a big market by himself, still holds huge appreciation for the Pacers and the Thunder. He explained on the latest episode of “Mind the Game” why he isn’t bothered by a small-market NBA Finals:

“I don’t know where it comes from. Listen, I played in Cleveland for 11 years and we were a small market. I just think it’s all about the storylines, it’s about what people can say on TV and create these Superman vs. Batman or DC Comics vs. Marvel. When it comes to the game of basketball, it doesn’t matter who’s representing who, it’s about two great teams. We talked previously in a lot of our episodes, we praise a lot of individuals and rightfully so. We have unbelievable individuals in our sport over the years who have done great things and have put themselves in a position to be talked about. But one thing we cannot disrespect is great teams. We can’t disrespect the 2003 Detroit Pistons with Chauncey, Rip, Tayshaun, Ben, Rasheed, rest of that group. These are teams that are completely put together. You can disrespect the 2019 Toronto Raptors with Fred VanVleet, Kawhi, Pascal. That’s a great team; you look at that roster like that’s a great team.

“So we have this Indiana-OKC situation and these are two great teams. And if you’re a basketball fan and you really love our game, you can learn so much from watching the way both of those teams play. Yes, you have your favorite players or favorite colors and there’s something to that. But if we’re just talking about the purity of the game and the sport, these are two teams that play the game the right way. And you love to see it. And even after that, they f—-ing earned it. They’ve been through the trenches, and injuries happen and things of that nature, but at the end of the day you’ve still gotta show up and play the game. The game is won in between the four lines. If someone’s injured, you can’t just forfeit because you have your players. You still have to play the game. Indiana’s been playing great basketball, and OKC has been doing this all year. And I think it’ll be a great Finals to watch. I love the game, so I’ll be in attendance.”

While the NBA would certainly be happy if James and the Lakers were in the NBA Finals, there is so much to love about the two teams currently playing, like LeBron says. They are both well-built teams with deep benches, fun role players and a star at the top of the chain.

Both teams play defense — the Thunder at a historic level — and can go on scoring flurries that make the game fun to watch. The dramatics of Game 1 showed just how exciting this series could be. And while it may not be great for ratings, it’s great for basketball, James argues, for the Thunder and Pacers to be where they are.

LeBron James calls bubble purest form of hoops

The 2019-20 Lakers were a special group as they overcame a ton of adversity to win the NBA Championship.

The Lakers finished that tumultuous season in the Orlando bubble and came back with the championship, which was the fourth in LeBron James’ illustrious career.

Since the Lakers won that title, a lot of people have tried to downplay it. The circumstances were certainly unique playing in the Orlando bubble with no fans in attendance, but that doesn’t make it any less of a championship. The circumstances were the equal for everyone and one team ultimately came out of top.

James discussed the bubble on the latest episode of “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash and stressed that it was pure hoops.