Pat Riley Says The Lakers' Championship Has An Asterisk


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Pat Riley says there is an asterisk next to the Lakers’ 2020 NBA Championship.

Miami Heat Team President Pat Riley says there will always be an asterisk next to the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2020 NBA Championship.

Pat RileyMatt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images

“They beat us fair and squarely,” Riley said to Fox Sports this week. “They were the best team. But there’s always going to be that asterisk, that caveat. If we had Bam and Goran—Goran was our leading scorer in the playoffs—at 100 percent, it could have gone to a seventh game. But I’m not going to look back on it, I’m just going to look at all the positive things.”

Both All-Star center Bam Adebayo and veteran point guard Goran Dragic, two key starters for the Heat, were injured in the first game of the NBA Finals. The Lakers won the series 4-2.

“Yes, I would like to see what it would be like with everybody whole,” he explained. “But we’ll get that shot again. I’m just so proud of what our guys did… The Lakers were great; they were a great team and they have the greatest player in the game today in LeBron [James] and Anthony Davis.”

Riley also recently discussed the team’s offseason plans including free agency. He says the Heat will focus on resigning their current free agency as opposed to luring in a new star.

[Via]


Pat Riley says there is an asterisk next to the Lakers’ 2020 NBA Championship.

Miami Heat Team President Pat Riley says there will always be an asterisk next to the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2020 NBA Championship.

Pat RileyMatt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images

“They beat us fair and squarely,” Riley said to Fox Sports this week. “They were the best team. But there’s always going to be that asterisk, that caveat. If we had Bam and Goran—Goran was our leading scorer in the playoffs—at 100 percent, it could have gone to a seventh game. But I’m not going to look back on it, I’m just going to look at all the positive things.”

Both All-Star center Bam Adebayo and veteran point guard Goran Dragic, two key starters for the Heat, were injured in the first game of the NBA Finals. The Lakers won the series 4-2.

“Yes, I would like to see what it would be like with everybody whole,” he explained. “But we’ll get that shot again. I’m just so proud of what our guys did… The Lakers were great; they were a great team and they have the greatest player in the game today in LeBron [James] and Anthony Davis.”

Riley also recently discussed the team’s offseason plans including free agency. He says the Heat will focus on resigning their current free agency as opposed to luring in a new star.

[Via]