KUALA LUMPUR – After a gruelling six months, we have finally reached the end of the 2020 NBA Championship, with the Los Angeles Lakers dominating the Miami Heat in the17th NBA championship finals with a 4-2 win.
The championship that was postponed for three months due to the recent Covid-19 pandemic finally started at the end of July inside the Walt Disney World ‘bubble’; not only closing the doors for fans to watch live matches but also proving to be a big hurdle for the athletes.
“It’s probably been the most challenging thing I’ve ever done as far as a professional, as far as committing to something and actually making it through,” 2020 NBA MVP LeBron James told reporters.
“But I’m here for one reason and one reason only, and that’s to compete for a championship. That was my mind-set once I entered the bubble, once I entered the quarantine process the first two days. The main thing was for us to finish the season and compete for a championship.”
The limitation within the ‘bubble’ due to the pandemic was not the only push back that the championship faced when playoffs were also put on hold for three days in August when the Milwaukee Bucks players decided to take a stand against the shocking news of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. All in which was supported by the players on other teams, with LA Lakers’ Guard Danny Green sharing that NBA players would “continue to try to find ways to promote the cause of racial justice and police reform.”
However, the athletes’ standstill during the playoffs was not the only social responsibility displayed this season. LeBron James also teamed up with New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg and others to raise funds to pay the outstanding debts of thousands of Florida felons so they can vote.
Despite being told by a Fox host to “shut up and dribble,” the NBA star, LeBron James, still emerges as the most high-profile promoter of US civic engagement in all sports – particularly in minority communities – to express their power through voting has the potential to impact November’s election, according to AFP.
The 2020 NBA season came to an end with the LA Lakers dedicating their win to the late Kobe Bryant, who passed away with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash.
“Kobe, I know he’s looking down on us super proud,” Lakers star forward Anthony Davis said. “We miss him, and this is definitely for him.”
“There would be times in my hotel room here – when you’re in a bubble for 100 days, it’s tough – there would be times in the middle of the night, I would hear his voice: ‘Stay the course. Finish the task,’” said general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, Rob Pelinka.
Six months of uncertainties, struggles and inspirations have proven the athlete’s tenacity and the drive that has pushed them beyond the limits of the court, closing the 2020 NBA championship chapter. – AFP, October 12, 2020
