LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers dunks the ball during Game Six of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat on Oct. 11, 2020, at The AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.
Credit: © Andrew D. Bernstein, NBAE/Getty Images

On October 11, the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) defeated the Miami Heat, 106-93, to win the franchise’s 17th NBA championship. The Lakers won the best-of-seven Finals four games to two, capping an extraordinary season interrupted by COVID-19 and later played out in a “bubble” at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Los Angeles superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis helped the Lakers overcome a spirited performance by the injury-depleted Heat and its willful leader Jimmy Butler. The game six victory secured James’s fourth championship, adding to title runs he enjoyed with the Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers. James, who averaged 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 8.5 assists in the series, was named the Finals’ Most Valuable Player (MVP).

The Miami Heat were led by battle-tested Butler, active young center Bam Adebayo, and rookie guard Tyler Herro. Butler totaled 40 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists in a Game Three Heat victory. He also recorded a triple-double in the Heat’s Game Five victory.

After accepting the championship trophy, James and Davis dedicated the trophy to the former Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant. Bryant was one of the most exciting players in the NBA, playing guard for a record 20 seasons for the Lakers. On Jan. 26, 2020, Bryant died in a helicopter crash. One of his daughters, 13-year-old Gianna, and the seven other people aboard the craft died as well. The Lakers—and the NBA as a whole—honored the Bryant family throughout the season. The Lakers have worn black jerseys that were designed by Bryant before his death. The jerseys also have the number “2” in a heart, Gianna’s jersey number.

T. J. Warren of the Indiana Pacers goes for a lay-up shot against the Philadelphia 76ers on August 1, 2020, at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The NBA resumed its suspended 2019-2020 season with teams sequestered (isolated) at the resort and no fans in attendance, precautions against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic (worldwide outbreak of disease). Virtual fans can be seen in the background, projected against the walls of the arena.
Credit: © Jesse D. Garrabrant, NBAE/Getty Images

The National Basketball Association (NBA) resumed its season on Thursday, July 30. But, this season looks much different than seasons past. Gone are the cheering fans. Instead, the stands are empty.

In March 2020, the NBA suspended its 2019-2020 season because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19, a contagious respiratory disease, first broke out in China in late 2019. It soon spread throughout the world. The NBA suspended play on March 11, 2020, after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the disease. Most other major sports leagues around the world quickly followed the NBA in suspending or canceling scheduled events. In June, NBA teams and players agreed to a plan in which the top 22 teams in the standings would resume play under a shortened schedule to compete for a place in the playoffs.

All 22 teams are sequestered (isolated) at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Living in this “bubble” is intended to protect the players, coaches, and staff from contracting and spreading COVID-19. The complex includes weight rooms, practice gyms, and game courts. There are no Disney princesses or pirates. But, there are many famous faces, including such top players as LeBron James and Zion Williamson.

The season resumed with a game between the Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans. The Jazz beat the Pelicans 106 to 104. That same night, the Los Angeles Clippers played the Los Angeles Lakers. It was another two-point victory—the Lakers beat the Clippers 103 to 101.

Opening night provided a platform for players and others to express support for Black Lives Matter (BLM). BLM is an activist movement that was formed to campaign against racial injustice and what its members consider police brutality against African Americans. BLACK LIVES MATTER was painted on the court, and the players knelt during the national anthem, an expression of protest begun by the American quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

The NBA is not the only sports league to resume suspended play. The National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) have resumed their seasons, too. One thing all the leagues have in common is the absence of spectators at games. But at-home celebrations are likely to be spirited, as fans throughout the world have been without professional sports for months.

January 28, 2020

Two days ago, on Sunday, January 26, the former National Basketball Association (NBA) star Kobe Bryant was killed along with his 13-year old daughter and seven other people in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, near Los Angeles. The helicopter had been carrying the passengers to Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy in nearby Newbury Park. The United States Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, but the helicopter went down in foggy conditions that had grounded some other air traffic in the area. Bryant, who starred for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996 to 2016, was 41 years old.

Kobe Bryant (with the ball) eludes a Phoenix Suns defender during the NBA playoffs on May 4, 2006, in Los Angeles. Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020. credit: © NBAE/Getty Images

Bryant, a 6 foot 6 inch- (198 centimeter-) tall shooting guard, is considered one of the best players in NBA history. During his career, he helped lead the Lakers to five NBA championships, made 18 All-Star teams, was named to the NBA All-Defensive Team 12 times, and earned the NBA Most Valuable Player award for the 2007-2008 season. Bryant led the league in scoring twice (2005-2006 and 2006-2007) and retired with 33,643 points–the fourth most in NBA history. On Jan. 22, 2006, Bryant scored 81 points in one game, the second highest total in NBA history behind the 100 points scored in a game by Wilt Chamberlain in 1962. Bryant also starred on U.S. national basketball teams that won the gold medal at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.

Bryant was born in Philadelphia on Aug. 23, 1978. His father, Joe Bryant, played in the NBA from 1975 through 1983. Kobe was drafted directly out of high school by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996. At 17, he was the youngest player ever drafted into the NBA. Charlotte selected Bryant as the 13th pick and then traded his rights to Los Angeles.

Bryant was in his first year of eligibility for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020, and he is sure to be part of the new class when it is announced in early April.

June 19, 2019

Last week, on June 13, the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) defeated the Golden State Warriors 114-110 to win the team’s first NBA championship. The Raptors won the best-of-seven finals four games to two. Raptors stars Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, and an underrated supporting team overcame Stephen Curry and his two-time defending champion Warriors to bring the first-ever NBA championship to Canada. The Raptors team, with its “We the North” slogan, celebrated the Canadian coup with nearly 2 million fans at a Toronto parade on June 17.

Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors lobs a shot over Golden State defenders during the sixth and deciding game of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena on June 13, 2019, in Oakland, California. Credit: © Kyle Terada, Getty Images

The Warriors, one-time heavy favorites to “three-peat” (repeat a third time) as champions, played most of the finals without the nine-time All-NBA forward Kevin Durant. (A calf injury limited Durant to just 12 minutes before a ruptured Achilles tendon ended his postseason). The Warriors also lost the star shooting guard Klay Thompson to a hamstring injury in game three and a torn knee ligament in game six. Curry and teammates Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala failed to muster enough offense to keep up with the hungry Raptors, who delivered big plays in the series’s final moments.

The Raptors began the 2018-2019 season with high hopes, having acquired the top forward Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs in a trade involving longtime Raptors swingman (multi-position player) DeMar DeRozan last July. Toronto also netted the steady shooter and defender Danny Green in the transaction, and they picked up the center Marc Gasol in a deal with Memphis this February. The emergence of the rangy third-year forward Pascal Siakam gave the Raptors star power at every position.

Toronto finished the regular season with a 58-24 record, good for second in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors defeated the Orlando Magic in five games in the first round of the playoffs. The team then topped the Philadelphia 76ers in a hard-fought seven-game series. Toronto overcame a two-games-to-none deficit against top-seeded Milwaukee and its towering superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, sweeping the last four games to close out the conference finals.

The Warriors, the most storied NBA dynasty since Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers and Michael Jordan’s  Chicago Bulls, finished 57-25 in the regular season, tops in the Western Conference. In the opening playoff round, the Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in a tough series that went six games. In Golden State’s second-round match up against the Houston Rockets, Durant exited after a game five calf strain. The Warriors still prevailed, however, and went on to sweep the upstart Portland Trail Blazers in the conference finals.

In game one of the finals in Toronto, the Raptors thrilled the home fans with a 118-109 victory over the Warriors—the first-ever NBA Finals game played in Canada. (The Raptors entered the league as an expansion team for the 1995-1996 season, and this was the team’s first finals. The only other Canadian NBA team, the Vancouver Grizzlies, never made the finals before moving to Memphis.) Toronto looked strong through halftime of game two, but the Warriors outscored the Raptors 34-21 in the third quarter and held on to win, evening the series at a game a piece.

The series continued on Golden State’s home court in Oakland, where the Raptors showed themselves to be the more complete team. Toronto won game three 123-109 and game four 105-92. Back in Toronto for game five, the Warriors overcame Durant’s postseason-ending injury, winning a tight 106-105 contest. In game six, Toronto stormed back after Klay Thompson’s injury, and Leonard, Lowry, and Siakam, together with the reserves Serge Ibaka and Fred VanVleet, proved invincible down the stretch. Leonard—who averaged 28.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals per game in the series—won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. The award was Leonard’s second; he earned finals MVP honors in 2014 as a member of the champion Spurs.

Finals game six was the last the Warriors will play in Oakland’s Oracle Arena, which first hosted games as Oakland-Alameda County Arena in 1966. Warriors fans enjoyed championship teams at the venue in 1975 and again during the team’s recent dominance in 2015, 2017, and 2018. Beginning next season, the Warriors will play their home games at the new $1.4-billion Chase Center across the bay in San Francisco.

June 15, 2018

On June 8, 2018, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and the Golden State Warriors took down LeBron James and his overmatched Cleveland Cavaliers 108-85 to capture a second straight National Basketball Association (NBA) title. (Golden State owns three of the last four NBA crowns.) The team’s win last Friday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, completed a four-game sweep in the best-of-seven series. Curry broke the Cavs’ collective will with 37 points in the final game to bring the series—and the season—to a predictable conclusion.

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors drives to the basket against LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers during game four of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 8, 2018. Credit: © Kyle Terada, Getty Images

This year’s NBA Finals had megastars (Curry, Durant, and James) and history (an NBA-record fourth-straight finals matchup of Cleveland vs. Golden State). There were even intriguing nicknames for the series: Cavs-Warriors IV, or, if you prefer, The Tetralogy (a college-level word meaning trilogy-plus-one). What the series lacked, however, was suspense. The Warriors followed up close matches in games one and three with blowouts in games two and four, easing their way to the title while preventing the Cavs from earning a single win. Durant, who averaged nearly 29 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists on high-percentage shooting in the finals, won the Bill Russell Finals Most Valuable Player Award for a second-straight year.

Between the two teams, only eight players remained from the teams’ first finals tangle in 2015: LeBron James, J. R. Smith, and Tristan Thompson for Cleveland; and Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, and Klay Thompson for the Oakland-based Golden State squad.

Finals game one in Oakland offered the most hope for the Cavaliers and their narrow championship chances. The game was tied at halftime and close throughout. With 35 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland ahead by 2, a curious reversal of a foul call during a video review changed a Durant charge into a blocking foul on James. On a night when James did nearly everything right—51 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists—the changed call proved a bit of bad luck the Cavaliers could not overcome. Durant made two free throws to tie the score. Then, with fewer than 5 seconds to go in a tie game, Cavs guard Smith secured an offensive rebound near the basket. Bizarrely, Smith neglected to put up a shot to try to win the game, and he was dribbling away from the basket as time expired. He explained later that he thought his team was ahead at the time. In overtime, Golden State quickly jumped out front and won the game going away, 124-114.

Game two saw no such drama. The Warriors led from start to finish for an easy 122-103 victory. The series moved to Cleveland for game three, and although the game was close, the result was the same. Durant scored 43 points and added 13 rebounds and 7 assists to pull the Warriors ahead down the stretch for a 110-102 win and a commanding 3-0 series lead. James tallied 33 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists for the losing Cavs, extending his NBA-record 10th finals triple double (double digits in points, rebounds, and assists). Game four was the least dramatic of all as the Warriors jumped out early and cruised through the second half with leads hovering around 20 points.

In the Eastern Conference playoffs, James almost single-handedly carried his Cavaliers past the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, and Boston Celtics en route to his team’s fourth straight NBA Finals appearance. James also secured his individual legacy with an eighth consecutive trip—and ninth overall—to the NBA Finals. James first made it to the finals in 2007 during his first go-round with the Cavs. He then reached the finals with the Miami Heat from 2011 through 2014, winning championships in 2012 and 2013. James returned to Cleveland for the 2014-2015 season, and he brought the Cavaliers their lone championship in 2016.

In the western playoffs, the Warriors downed the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans before outlasting the regular season NBA-best Houston Rockets in an exciting seven-game Western Conference Finals.

October 17, 2017

The National Basketball Association (NBA) season begins tonight, October 17, as the Houston Rockets visit the defending champion Golden State Warriors in Oakland, California. Both teams are stocked with superstars, and the Warriors are odds-on favorites to win their third title in the last four years. After the game, the Rockets will take a short ride up Interstate 80 to Sacramento for the Kings’ season opener on Wednesday. The Kings, perennial also-rans and polar opposites of the Warriors, have the worst odds in the league—1 chance in 1,000—to win the championship, making the team all but a sure bet to extend its NBA-longest title drought of 66 years.

On April 18, 1951, Rochester Royals star Arnie Risen (third from left in blue) nabs a rebound from Harry Gallatin (11, in white) of the New York Knicks in game six of the NBA Finals at New York City’s 69th Regiment Armory. The Royals, ancestors of the modern day Sacramento Kings, defeated the Knicks for the only NBA title in franchise history. Credit: © Marty Zimmerman, AP/REX/Shutterstock

Technically, the Kings have never sat upon the NBA throne. It was the team’s ancestors, the Rochester (New York) Royals, who last won an NBA title in 1951. The Royals were a founding member of the NBA in 1949, and they took down the New York Knicks in the 1951 NBA Finals. The Royals were led by two future Basketball Hall of Famers, center Arnie “Stilts” Risen and Bob Davies, one of the greatest guards in NBA history. In 1957, the Royals moved to Cincinnati, where they won 55 games over an 80-game schedule during the 1963-1964 season (only to lose to the Boston Celtics in the playoffs). The biggest star of the Cincinnati team was guard Oscar Robertson, a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest all-around players in NBA history.

The team moved to Kansas City, Missouri, for the 1972-1973 season, but also played games in Omaha, Nebraska. The team became known as the Kansas City-Omaha Kings (the baseball Royals already played in Kansas City). The biggest star of the early 1970′s was high-scoring guard Nate Archibald. The team soon dropped “Omaha” from its name and played primarily in Kansas City starting with the 1975-1976 season. The late ’70′s Kings were led by guards Otis Birdsong and Phil Ford, forward Scott Wedman, and center Sam Lacey.

In 1983, the team was purchased by a Sacramento business group. The team began play in Sacramento in the 1985-1986 season. The Kings made the playoffs their first season in Sacramento, but lean years followed. The 2000-2001 team advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 20 years before losing to the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. The next season, the Kings won a franchise record 61 games over an 82-game schedule, but bowed out to the Lakers again, this time in an intense conference final. The Kings of that era featured such stars as guard Mike Bibby, center Vlade Divac, and forwards Chris Webber and Predrag Stojakovic. Since finishing 44-38 in 2005-2006, the Kings have not had a winning season.

The Kings are not lonely at the bottom of the lopsided NBA. Of the league’s 30 teams, 12 have never won a title, 11 have droughts of 40 years or more, and 7 have never even reached the finals. The second-longest NBA title drought belongs to the Atlanta Hawks, who last won a title (as the St. Louis Hawks) in 1958.

June 14, 2017

On Monday, June 12, the Golden State Warriors overwhelmed the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers 129-120 in the deciding game five of the best-of-seven National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Warriors standouts Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry led the way against Cleveland stars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving to bring Golden State its second championship in the last three seasons.

On June 12, 2017, Stephen Curry (30) of the Golden State Warriors drives to the basket as Draymond Green (23) blocks out Cleveland Cavaliers defenders in Game 5 of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. The Warriors won the NBA title four games to one. Credit: © Kyle Terada, Pool/Getty Images

This year’s NBA Finals was the third straight match-up between the Warriors and Cavs. Never before in NBA history have two teams returned three straight years to face each other in the finals. After last year’s dramatic win for Cleveland—their first in team history—both the Warriors and Cavs improved their team depth. But it was the Warriors that made the biggest off-season splash, adding free agent do-everything wing Kevin Durant, perhaps the game’s greatest scorer.

LeBron James, who made a record seventh-straight appearance in the finals (including three years with the Miami Heat), became the first-ever player to average a finals triple-double (double-digit totals among three statistical categories) with 33.6 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists per game. “I left everything on the floor every game,” James said after his team’s defeat. LeBron’s sustained excellence was not enough, however, to contain the lethal combination of Durant and the sharpshooting Curry, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP). Curry averaged 26.8 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists per game in this year’s finals.

The championship series began auspiciously for the Warriors, who in game one exploited 20 Cavaliers turnovers and numerous defensive breakdowns in a 113-91 rout. Acting Coach Mike Brown led the Warriors in game one and in most of the early rounds of the 2017 playoffs. Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr, who missed 11 playoff games dealing with chronic pain caused by complications from a 2015 back surgery, returned to the team’s bench in game two, when the California squad outscored their Lake Erie counterparts, 132-113.

In a pivotal game three at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena, the Warriors closed on a 11-0 run over the last two-plus minutes to win 118-113, crushing the Cavs’ hopes of making the series competitive. The Cavs built a late 113-107 lead but went scoreless thereafter. Durant calmly sank a three-pointer over James to give the Warriors the lead with 45 seconds to go. James (39 points and 11 rebounds) played a wonderful all-around game but could not will his team to victory down the stretch. Golden State’s Klay Thompson (30 points), Curry (26 points, 13 rebounds), and Durant (31 points, 8 rebounds) proved too much for the Cavs, despite masterful shot-making displays by Cleveland guard Irving (38 points) and a 16-point effort from guard J.R. Smith. In game four, the Cavs raced out to an 86-68 halftime lead—the 86 points a Finals halftime record—and held off the Warriors in the second half for a comfortable 137-116 win. The Cavs—led by Irving, Smith, and forward Kevin Love—made 52 percent of their three-pointers in the game.

In game five back in Oakland, the Warriors built a 71-60 halftime lead, but the Cavaliers, behind Smith’s seven-of-eight shooting from beyond the three-point arc, remained within striking distance for much of the second half. Warrior swingman Andre Iguodala, who scored 20 points in his best game of the series, disheartened the Cavs with four rim-rattling dunks, including two on alley-oops from forward Draymond Green.

Durant won the Bill Russell Finals MVP Award after becoming the first player since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000 to score 30–plus points in each game of the NBA Finals. Durant downplayed his individual award, emphasizing that the championship belonged to the team and the city. “We’re champions and we did it on our own floor,” he said.

January 25, 2016

Stephen “Steph” Curry of the Golden State Warriors has become the poster player for the National Basketball Association (NBA). His mixture of an outgoing and sunny disposition with a “try and stop me” swagger has captivated the American sports world. Simply put, Curry is fun to watch, especially when he nonchalantly makes 25- and 30-foot 3-point shots with a flick of the wrist and a defender in his face. He’s the perfect leader for a Warriors team that has earned praise for playing basketball “the right way,” emphasizing teamwork and speed.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) puts up a shot against Cleveland Cavaliers guard J. R. Smith (5). Credit: © Tony Dejak, AP Photo

Curry has been widely proclaimed to be the greatest shooter in NBA history, and his complementary skills as a passer, dribbler, and rebounder make him one of the NBA’s most complete players.

He was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the 2014-2015 season and led the league in scoring. Curry is leading the NBA in scoring again for the 2015-2016 season, and his Warriors have the best record in the league as they compete for their second straight championship.

Wardell Stephen Curry II was born on March 14, 1988, in Akron, Ohio, but grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. While attending high school at Charlotte Christian, Curry led his team to three conference championships. Curry did not receive a scholarship offer from any major college basketball program. He finally accepted a scholarship from Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina.

Curry built a reputation as a scorer during his three years at Davidson. In his freshman season in 2006-2007, he set a single-session NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) record for made 3-point shots. The next season, he set an NCAA record for 3-point field goals by any player, and in 2008-2009, he was the NCAA Division I scoring leader. Division I consists of all major college teams.

Curry decided to leave school after his junior year to enter the NBA draft. His scoring exploits at Davidson convinced the Warriors he was worth selecting in the 2009 draft, and the club picked him as the seventh player in the first round. Some people predicted that Curry, a guard at only 6 feet 3 inches (1.19 meters) in height and 190 pounds (86 kilograms) in weight, was too small to withstand the demanding physical style of the NBA. But his scoring average of 17.5 points, 5.9 assists, and 1.9 steals was good enough to finish second in the Rookie of the Year voting. In his second season, Curry was awarded the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award. The championship 2014-2015 season was his coronation as one of the NBA’s superstars.

Other World Book articles: 

• Basketball (2008) – A Back in Time article

June 22, 2012

The Miami Heat won the 2011-2012 National Basketball Association (NBA) championship last night by defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 4 games to 1, though lots of basketball fans were unhappy about the result. In just two years, the Heat had become the most hated team in the NBA, perceived as arrogant and smug after the team signed stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh to join Dwyane Wade on the roster. At an extravagant coming-out party in the summer of 2010 to announce the signings of Bosh and James, LeBron predicted a Heat dynasty with multiple championships: “Not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven.”

Le Bron James (© Aaron Josefczyk, Reuters/Landov)

Many people considered Oklahoma City talented enough to defeat Miami. Led by the high-scoring duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the Thunder had swept through the first three rounds of the Western Conference play-offs, defeating defending champion Dallas Mavericks and then the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs, losing only three games along the way. Miami defeated the Indiana Pacers, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Boston Celtics, with Boston forcing Miami into a seventh and final game for the Eastern Conference championship.

Oklahoma City defeated Miami in the opening game of the finals but lost the next three, all competitive contests that were not decided until the final minute. There was no suspense in the fifth game. Miami led by as many as 27 points before winning 121-106. James dominated the play-offs as he had dominated the regular season and was named the Most Valuable Player for the finals. LeBron’s prediction of more than seven NBA championships may not come true, but nobody could take away his first title.