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2020 NBA Finals
The 2020 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2019–20 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat, 4–2 and 17th title overall in franchise history. The Los Angeles Lakers also became the first and only team in NBA history to be undefeated in a season when leading entering the fourth quarter, going a combined 57–0 record in the regular season and playoffs. The Lakers' LeBron James was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the fourth time in his career. He became the first and only player in NBA history to be named Finals MVP with three different franchises (two with the Heat, one with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and one with the Lakers) and along with teammate Danny Green, jointly the third players to win the NBA Finals with three different teams. He won the Finals MVP award in a unanimous 11–0 vote by leading his team in points, rebounds, and assists for the entire series, after averaging 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game on the very efficient 59% shooting. Lakers president Jeanie Buss became the first female controlling owner to guide her team to an NBA title.
The Lakers were the No. 1 seed in the West, while the Heat were No. 5 in the East, becoming the third-lowest seed to advance to the Finals. This was the first NBA Finals matchup between the two teams, and the first time that Finals participants had both missed the playoffs in the previous season. James had previously played with Miami under Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, winning back-to-back NBA titles in 2012 and 2013 in four consecutive Finals appearances from 2011 to 2014, while Heat president Pat Riley was head coach of the "Showtime"-era Lakers from 1981 to 1990, leading them to four NBA titles in seven Finals appearances. For the first time in six seasons, the Golden State Warriors were not in the Finals.
The Finals were originally scheduled for June, but the season was suspended in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NBA and its players later approved a plan to restart the season in late July, setting up the NBA Bubble at Walt Disney World to protect teams from the virus. The games were played in the Bubble behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Bay Lake, Florida, with the Finals being played from September 30 through October 11. The Finals marked the conclusion of the NBA Bubble, which recorded no COVID-19 cases for the participating teams. The 2020 Finals was the latest to begin (beating the 1999 edition which began on June 16) and the first one played in September and October, and as well held in the fall.[citation needed]
On March 11, 2020, the NBA announced the suspension of the 2019–20 season following a report that Utah Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 just hours before the Jazz road game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved 29–1 (the Portland Trail Blazers were the lone dissenter) resuming the 2019–20 season at Walt Disney World. The National Basketball Players Association approved the plan a day later. Under the plan, thirteen Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams, which include all clubs within six games of a playoff spot, played eight regular-season "seeding" games. A possible play-in tournament for the eighth seed in each conference would then be held if the ninth seed finished the regular season within four games of the eighth seed (this play-in tournament was used in the Western conference only). The 2020 NBA playoffs were then played as a conventional post-season tournament.
During the off-season, the Heat agreed to a four-way trade with the Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Philadelphia 76ers to acquire All-Star small forward Jimmy Butler from the 76ers.
Miami began the season with two undrafted players in their starting lineup, Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson. In his first season with the Heat, Butler was named an All-Star for the fifth time in his career, and Bam Adebayo received his first selection, giving Miami two players in an All-Star Game for the first time since Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in the 2015–16 season. Before the season was suspended, the Heat clinched both their first playoff berth and Southeast Division title since the 2017–18 season. After the season resumed, they earned the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Heat swept the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs, upset the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and defeated the 3rd-seed Boston Celtics in six games in the Eastern Conference finals to become the first fifth-seeded team to reach the NBA Finals. Only three other times had a lower seed reached the Finals: the Houston Rockets at No. 6 in 1981 and 1995, and the No. 8 New York Knicks in 1999.
The Lakers were coming off of a disappointing season in 2018–19 in which they extended their playoff drought which began in 2014. Their major free agent acquisition, LeBron James, suffered the first major injury in his career, and he missed the playoffs for the first time since 2005. On the final day of the season, Magic Johnson resigned as president of basketball operations, and head coach Luke Walton and the team mutually agreed to part ways a few days later. During the offseason, general manager Rob Pelinka hired Frank Vogel as the Lakers' new head coach, and he acquired six-time All-Star power forward Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans in a three-way trade that also included the Washington Wizards. Pelinka was promoted to vice president of basketball operations in January 2020, while still retaining his GM role. Later in the month, legendary former Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others. The Lakers dedicated the season to him.
The Lakers clinched their first playoff berth since the 2012–13 season in March 2020, days before the season was suspended. It ended the longest drought in the franchise's history. After play resumed in the bubble, the Lakers clinched both their first Pacific Division title since 2012 and the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs for the first time since the 2009–10 season. James and Davis were runner-ups for the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, respectively, behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, and both were named to the All-NBA First Team.
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2020 NBA Finals
The 2020 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2019–20 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat, 4–2 and 17th title overall in franchise history. The Los Angeles Lakers also became the first and only team in NBA history to be undefeated in a season when leading entering the fourth quarter, going a combined 57–0 record in the regular season and playoffs. The Lakers' LeBron James was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the fourth time in his career. He became the first and only player in NBA history to be named Finals MVP with three different franchises (two with the Heat, one with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and one with the Lakers) and along with teammate Danny Green, jointly the third players to win the NBA Finals with three different teams. He won the Finals MVP award in a unanimous 11–0 vote by leading his team in points, rebounds, and assists for the entire series, after averaging 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game on the very efficient 59% shooting. Lakers president Jeanie Buss became the first female controlling owner to guide her team to an NBA title.
The Lakers were the No. 1 seed in the West, while the Heat were No. 5 in the East, becoming the third-lowest seed to advance to the Finals. This was the first NBA Finals matchup between the two teams, and the first time that Finals participants had both missed the playoffs in the previous season. James had previously played with Miami under Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, winning back-to-back NBA titles in 2012 and 2013 in four consecutive Finals appearances from 2011 to 2014, while Heat president Pat Riley was head coach of the "Showtime"-era Lakers from 1981 to 1990, leading them to four NBA titles in seven Finals appearances. For the first time in six seasons, the Golden State Warriors were not in the Finals.
The Finals were originally scheduled for June, but the season was suspended in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NBA and its players later approved a plan to restart the season in late July, setting up the NBA Bubble at Walt Disney World to protect teams from the virus. The games were played in the Bubble behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Bay Lake, Florida, with the Finals being played from September 30 through October 11. The Finals marked the conclusion of the NBA Bubble, which recorded no COVID-19 cases for the participating teams. The 2020 Finals was the latest to begin (beating the 1999 edition which began on June 16) and the first one played in September and October, and as well held in the fall.[citation needed]
On March 11, 2020, the NBA announced the suspension of the 2019–20 season following a report that Utah Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 just hours before the Jazz road game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved 29–1 (the Portland Trail Blazers were the lone dissenter) resuming the 2019–20 season at Walt Disney World. The National Basketball Players Association approved the plan a day later. Under the plan, thirteen Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams, which include all clubs within six games of a playoff spot, played eight regular-season "seeding" games. A possible play-in tournament for the eighth seed in each conference would then be held if the ninth seed finished the regular season within four games of the eighth seed (this play-in tournament was used in the Western conference only). The 2020 NBA playoffs were then played as a conventional post-season tournament.
During the off-season, the Heat agreed to a four-way trade with the Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Philadelphia 76ers to acquire All-Star small forward Jimmy Butler from the 76ers.
Miami began the season with two undrafted players in their starting lineup, Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson. In his first season with the Heat, Butler was named an All-Star for the fifth time in his career, and Bam Adebayo received his first selection, giving Miami two players in an All-Star Game for the first time since Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in the 2015–16 season. Before the season was suspended, the Heat clinched both their first playoff berth and Southeast Division title since the 2017–18 season. After the season resumed, they earned the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Heat swept the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs, upset the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and defeated the 3rd-seed Boston Celtics in six games in the Eastern Conference finals to become the first fifth-seeded team to reach the NBA Finals. Only three other times had a lower seed reached the Finals: the Houston Rockets at No. 6 in 1981 and 1995, and the No. 8 New York Knicks in 1999.
The Lakers were coming off of a disappointing season in 2018–19 in which they extended their playoff drought which began in 2014. Their major free agent acquisition, LeBron James, suffered the first major injury in his career, and he missed the playoffs for the first time since 2005. On the final day of the season, Magic Johnson resigned as president of basketball operations, and head coach Luke Walton and the team mutually agreed to part ways a few days later. During the offseason, general manager Rob Pelinka hired Frank Vogel as the Lakers' new head coach, and he acquired six-time All-Star power forward Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans in a three-way trade that also included the Washington Wizards. Pelinka was promoted to vice president of basketball operations in January 2020, while still retaining his GM role. Later in the month, legendary former Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others. The Lakers dedicated the season to him.
The Lakers clinched their first playoff berth since the 2012–13 season in March 2020, days before the season was suspended. It ended the longest drought in the franchise's history. After play resumed in the bubble, the Lakers clinched both their first Pacific Division title since 2012 and the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs for the first time since the 2009–10 season. James and Davis were runner-ups for the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, respectively, behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, and both were named to the All-NBA First Team.