The Los Angeles Lakers fell behind early in Game 1 of the 2020 NBA Finals before turning on the jets and never looking back. Los Angeles put forth a complete and dominant performance from about halfway through the first quarter until they took their foot off the gas late, winning 116-98 in a game that somehow did not feel as close as the final score indicated.
With the result of the game looking inevitable for a long stretch, the Lakers were feeling themselves a bit. The team’s bench did what you expect a good bench to do — celebrate things in an extremely over-the-top way — although this came much to the chagrin to their most prominent player.
According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, a pair of incidents rubbed James the wrong way. The first came when Dwight Howard celebrated an outlet pass to James that prompted a timeout by the Heat, while Anthony Davis told his loved ones in attendance to cheer. The second occurred after a dunk by Davis prompted another timeout and the Lakers saw their lead reach its largest of the night, at that point 32 points, and players celebrated once again.
Per Haynes, James let the first one slide, but spoke up after the second.
“Hey, hey! Stop it! Stay locked in!” James screamed. “This sh*t ain’t over, man.”
It’s unclear whether James was referring to the game — which was effectively over save for the clock hitting 0:00 — or the series as a whole. He did, however, speak to the media after the game about a time in his career when a teammate celebrating a bit too early in the Finals led to something that “burns me to this day.”
“The best teacher in life is experience,” James responded. “I’ve experienced moments in my career where you have all the momentum in the world and you felt like you had the game under control, and one play here or one play there could change the course of a series or change the course of a game. One in particular that always rings home for me is Game 2 of the 2011 Finals in Miami vs. Dallas. [Dwyane Wade] hits a three right by their bench. I believe it put us up either 13 or 17. From that moment on, Dallas went on a hell of a run and finished it off with a Dirk Nowitzki left-hand layup to steal that game. That sh*t burns me to this day. I always talk about the best teacher in life is experience, and I’ve experienced a lot. That’s what prompts me to be who I am today, is being able to have those experiences.”
Dallas famously went on to win that series in six games, rallying back after losing Game 1 to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy over Miami. James very obviously wants to make sure history does not repeat itself, and this time, he’s the one toppling the Heat.