CHICAGO -- I have never been accused of being a LeBron James fan.
Although I like him as a person, more so now after he threw himself in the forefront of the fight for social equity, I have a disdain for his nomadic pursuit of NBA titles.
Burning bridges while building new kingdoms, to me, is salty, shady.
And while my 2020 NBA Finals pick was tainted with loathing bias, it takes a certain humility to admit and a pair of good eyes to see that LeBron and his cohorts from L.A. are simply the bigger, better team.
Consider this piece as my limp, little white flag. And I wave it meekly, head bowed in sweet surrender.
Hear, hear, hail to the King!
LeBron is getting his fourth ring and the Lakers are raising championship banner No. 17 at Staples Center.
In concept, this best-of-seven series ain't over after only two games. But the life and vigor of this showdown is gone and the favorable Lakers outcome is irreversible.
THE MIAMI HEAT ARE BEATEN, BROKEN.
And without Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic, they look lost like Vina Morales, whose cellphone was ripped off her precious hands while she sat in her car at EDSA the other day.
Per The Miami Herald, the Heat have outscored their opponents by a total of 55 points in 16 playoffs games where Adebayo and Dragic were in the lineup. Without them, the Heat were outscored by 18.2 points per 100 possessions.
As questions continued to shadow the Heat, the Lakers just kept peppering us with answers.
In a Game 2 where Danny Green, Kantavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma and Alex Caruso combined for a dismal 10-of-35 shooting, Rajon Rondo, of all people, went 3-of-4 behind the arc and dazzled with 16 points and 10 assists.
That, on top of the constant excellence from LeBron and Anthony Davis, are the reasons why the Lakers are leading by 2-0 and feeling like it's 4-0-ver.
After a combined 59 points, 22 rebounds and 14 assists in Game 1, LeBron and A.D. were at it again in Game 2 with a richer, gaudier haul of 65 points, 23 rebounds and 10 dimes.
That's not going to change moving forward and that is why Heat fans are sulking with the sinking, agonizing reality that hope and chance have departed the bubble.
And though Jimmy Butler will always bring the fight no matter what, this is a lost cause. The Lakers are unstoppable in a way that asteroids must land somewhere, somehow.
No joy leaks from the words that come out of this column but I am more sad that the injuries Miami sustained have deprived us of at least a meaningful, spirited series where a game here and there could sway either way.
Watching Miami fall behind by 32 points in Game 1 and trail by 18 in Game 2 isn't what I envisioned the 2020 NBA Finals to look like especially after the avalanche of cliffhangers we witnessed in the conference finals.
However, just because Miami isn't at full strength does not diminish this title run. It must only burnish it.
LeBron is 35 years old with 59,201 minutes on his knees. The fact that he has stayed healthy and still doing otherworldly, extraterrestrial stuff is a tribute to his royal strength and lasting power.
No asterisk needed here. But an exclamation point would be nice.
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