That performance by Butler was insanely good.

They certainly cant expect Jimmy to keep doing that, and I wouldn't expect both LeBron and AD to struggle as much as they did today. LeBron's basic stats looked fine (25-10-8) but he had 8 turnovers and took a lot of bad shots in the 4th quarter. Just looked disinterested.

Hopefully the Heat can steal another game though and keep it interesting

Love how the Heat, and Butler in particular, are playing.

Nonetheless, the Lakers will come out, dominate G4 and take the series in 5-6 games.

Hoping I'm wrong, but their defense and rebounding presence is devastating, and the Heat don't have an answer for Davis - other than getting him in foul trouble!

Hopefully Adebayo and Dragic can play in Game 4.

Just saw this evening that it was a reply. So maybe the murdering chance won't be so high. Would be keen to see Butler do it to them again, but not sure Davis would be a non-factor twice straight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0spXnX0l638

Today reminded me of this

"I ain't gonna lie, Lebron, youse a baller

But Jimmy Butler is your father"

"Happy Mother Day Lebron, hope you're having fun

Happy Father's Day Lebron, cos you're Jimmy's son"

Lakers were disinterested today

Lebron lacks the killer instinct. It's a blight on his record that he had 8 turnovers and didn't put this series away in 4, against the worst finals team of my lifetime who are missing 2 starters.

Yes, Heat have had a great playoffs, but would they even be there in a normal season? Would they have taken a 2-0 lead if they were on the road in Milwaukee? Would they have won those close games against the Celtics if they were in Boston?

No one knows. But I do know they shouldn't be good enough to beat this Lakers team in the Finals.

Butler is a gun, but most of their scores today were either

- Butler one on one to the hoop, or peeling off a pick for a jumper

- Butler giving a hand off to Robinson or Herro for a 3

Butler put in a historic performance, one of the greatest NBA finals performances ever, and I love Butler. But at the same time, I do think the Lakers didn't bring enough intensity or smarts.

I love that whenever the Lakers aren't playing 8-on-5 they're simply a turrible basketball team.

History is not kind to them.

Always 8-on-5. When it's not the Lakers choke.

Go Jimmy G Buckets

"All he did was walk off the court. Its not that big of a deal."

Exactly. While Miami stood there and dribbled out the clock. This is the NBA remember.....it's not the done thing to play to the final buzzer.

LeSook James

Lakers 102-96. LeBron 28/12/8. Butler 22/10/9. Heat got 15 and 7 out of Bam, but Dragic didn't play.

AD didn't do a lot offensively but did a great job defending Butler on a lot of possessions. While Butler still almost had a triple double, it was simply a very good game instead of the all timer he had the other night. LeBrons first half was a lot like his whole game 3, but he came good in the second half and closed the game out when it was there to be won.

I still think AD edges LeBron for the MVP but a "close out" performance by LBJ could change that.

[mans humble.]

Lebron's speech:

"I'm so glad to have joined this great franchise.

I told Jeanie I’d bring this franchise back to where it belongs.

We just want our respec.

Laker Nation wants their respec.

Coach Vogel wants his Respec.

I want my damn respec too. “

There’s no humility.

No “Well done Jimmy Butler, you kicked my ass for a lot of that series. I’m proud I could put up these numbers with a great defender like you on me. Well done to the Heat, especially the bench guys who played big minutes with all the adversity their team faced".

Lebron should be happy he even got MVP, considering Butler's the main reason the Heat took this to 6 games, when his best teammates for half of this series were a rookie who got picked 13th and a guy who went undrafted 2 years ago

Lebron has no killer instinct, and he has no true humility either

Bring back the days of classy organisations like the Spurs, or even the Warriors

So salty.

Well done to LeBron and the Lakers. Well deserved.

Jimmy was great, but better than LeBron in 2015 when his best team mates on any given night were Mozgov or Delly?

Well done to the Lakers, and to the Heat for making it a respectable series.

Wish people would stop bringing up LBJ Vs MJ for GOAT so much.

Neither side are going to convince the other side they are right.

Doesn't help when both sides are wrong either. Wilt clearly the GOAT if you're talking statistical dominance, or Russell if you're talking winning and killer instinct. /half jk

Jimmy was great, but better than LeBron in 2015 when his best team mates on any given night were Mozgov or Delly?]


Agreed - Lebron got absolutely robbed, that was terrible

I appreciate Lebron- easily the best player of this century, and I'll miss him when he's gone. I was only commenting on his MVP speech there


Lebron literally got told by a reporter about how people are saying he's the GOAT. He gave this narcissistic answer full of faux humility about wanting to "make his guys proud". Didn't mention that no, no one with half a brain would call him the GOAT!

Vogel carried on like a teenage girl


None of Vogel, Lebron or Davis even mentioned the Heat.


All so cringeworthy

But of course, Lebron is the greatest of the 21st century and a champion

Definitely Congrats to the Lakers. They deserved it.
Miami should be hugely congratulated. They played tough and showed a lot. Give them a free run without the injuries and it might have been much closer.
Butler has really turned around the perception of him over the season.

In terms of the GOAT debate, I find it hard to consider anyone other than Jordan as GOAT, but will admit that LBJ is in contention.

I prefer to consider it in tiers. The absolute upper tier is Jordan, LBJ, Russell and Kareem. That's it.

Under that there are the players like Magic, Duncan, Wilt, Kobe etc...

It's too difficult to compare eras, so better to look at players who have separated themselves from others.

[Wish people would stop bringing up LBJ Vs MJ for GOAT so much.

Neither side are going to convince the other side they are right.]

Isnt that just a media hype thing though? Like, everyday basketball fans don't actually call Lebron the Goat do they? I mean, no one who's older than about 21 and has been watching for longer than 5 minutes?

[I prefer to consider it in tiers. The absolute upper tier is Jordan, LBJ, Russell and Kareem. That's it.

Under that there are the players like Magic, Duncan, Wilt, Kobe etc...]

It is difficult to compare eras

Russell was insanely successful but competed in an era where there were 9 teams. Kareem won most of his MVPs in an era where many stars played ABA

80s onwards gets extra points with the professionalism and higher standard, 3 point line, competition with extra teams globalisation of the game

This is why I'd actually put LBJ number 2 now, a whisker ahead of Russell or Kareem

Jordan clearly number 1 though.

Of course, Lebrons still playing. It could become an interesting argument if Lebron wins another next year and wins another finals MVP against a better opponent

Not to mention that superstars can now take many more steps on the way to the basket, and are a protected species. LOL


Personally, I'd rather see the most important accolades going to players who actually did more than just be set up to score such as Kareem or Russell. I have a lot more respect for someone who can be given the ball at halfway and win a 1on1 against anyone else consistently than some big lunk who only dominates beside the basket and needs to be set up all the time.

Imagine a series of 1on1s between Jordan, LBJ, Kobe, Curry, etc. Jordan’s defence was legendary, on top of his outstanding offense, so I think he would win any best-of-10 against any of the other contenders. I don’t think LBJ would come close.