LeBron James scored 16 of his game-high 38 points in the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 117-107 Game 5 victory over the Denver Nuggets Saturday to secure the 10th NBA Finals appearance of his career.
But just getting to the finals again isn’t something James is hanging his hat on.
“Right now, it don’t mean s–t unless I get it done,” James told ESPN. “I got to get it done.”
He got it done against the Nuggets Saturday, adding 16 rebounds and 10 assists to his series-high 38 points to record his 27th career playoff triple-double – a feat that’s second only to Magic Johnson’s 30. The 35-year-old James averaged 27 points per game in the Western Conference finals against Denver, while recording 52 rebounds and 45 assists.
The win punched the Lakers’ first ticket to the Finals since 2010, when Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles to a seven-game victory over the Boston Celtics.
LeBron James will play in his 10th career NBA Finals.NBAE via Getty ImagesJames was asked to speak at center court after the confetti had fallen in front of about a dozen of team family members in the stands at AdventHealth Arena in Orlando due to coronavirus precautions.
“We’re going to enjoy it tonight, as we should, because this is not promised every year,” James said. “There’s only two teams that can advance to the Finals every year. That means pretty much 30 players that only advance every year to the Finals. We’re going to enjoy it tonight, but we understand we have bigger fish to fry.
“We understand there’s a bigger goal, but we can’t take this for granted because this doesn’t happen every year to anybody.”
