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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2020
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Lakers beat the Heat for NBA championship
By TIM REYNOLDS
Associated Press
L
AKE BUENA VISTA,
Fla. — The ultimate
anguish. The ultimate
joy.
This season, LeBron
James and the Los Ange-
les Lakers had it all. And it
ended in the only fashion
that they deemed would be
acceptable, with them back
atop the basketball world.
For the fi rst time since
Kobe Bryant’s fi fth and fi nal
title a decade ago, the Lakers
are NBA champions. James
had 28 points, 14 rebounds
and 10 assists, and the Lak-
ers beat the Miami Heat 106-
93 on Sunday night to win
the NBA Finals in six games.
“Our organization wants
their respect. Laker Nation
wants their respect,” James
said. “And I want my damn
respect, too.”
Anthony Davis had 19
points and 15 rebounds for
the Lakers, who dealt with
the enormous anguish that
followed the death of the
iconic Bryant in January
and all the challenges that
came with leaving home for
three months to play at Walt
Disney World in a bubble
designed to keep inhabitants
safe from the coronavirus.
It would be, James pre-
dicted, the toughest title to
ever win.
“We have a Ph.D. in
adversity, I’ll tell you that
much,” Lakers coach Frank
Vogel said. “We’ve been
through a lot.”
They made the clincher
look easy. James won his
fourth title, doing it with a
third different franchise —
and against the Heat fran-
chise that showed him how
to become a champion.
‘OUR
ORGANIZATION
WANTS THEIR
RESPECT. LAKER
NATION WANTS
THEIR RESPECT.
AND I WANT
MY DAMN
RESPECT, TOO.’
LeBron James
Bam Adebayo had 25
points and 10 rebounds for
Miami, which got 12 points
from Jimmy Butler — the
player who, in his fi rst Heat
season, got the team back
to title contention. Rajon
Rondo scored 19 points for
the Lakers, who put together
the elite talents of James and
Davis with this moment in
mind.
And Davis, as white and
gold confetti coated the fl oor
around him, spent his fi rst
moments as an NBA cham-
pion thinking of Bryant.
“All we wanted to do
was do it for him,” Davis
said. “And we didn’t let him
down. ... I know he’s look-
ing down on us, proud of
us.”
With that, the league’s
bubble chapter, put together
after a 4 1/2-month sus-
pension of play that started
March 11 because of the
coronavirus pandemic and
came with a promise that it
would raise awareness to the
problems of racial injustice
and police brutality, is over.
So, too, is a season that saw
the league and China get
into political sparring, the
death on Jan. 1 of commis-
sioner emeritus David Stern
— the man who did so much
to make the league what it
is — and then the shock on
Jan. 26 that came with the
news that Bryant, his daugh-
ter, Gianna, and seven other
died in a helicopter crash.
The Lakers said they
were playing the rest of the
season in his memory.
They delivered what Bry-
ant did fi ve times for L.A. —
a ring, and the clincher was
emphatic.
“You have written your
own inspiring chapter in the
great Laker history,” Lak-
ers owner Jeanie Buss said.
“And to Laker Nation, we
have been through a heart-
breaking tragedy with the
loss of our beloved Kobe
Bryant. Let this trophy serve
as a reminder of when we
come together, believe in
each other, incredible things
can happen.”
Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo
Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James, center, celebrates with his teammates after the Lakers
defeated the Miami Heat 106-93 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Sunday.
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OREGON CAPITAL
Astoria Golf hosts
regional championship
The Astorian
The Astoria Golf & Coun-
try Club was the host course
last week for the Pacifi c
Northwest
Pro-Amateur
Championship, held Thurs-
day and Friday.
Two days of golf featured
two-man teams in a four-ball
competition.
The winning team of Tyler
Daniels and Brady Sharp,
from Wine Valley Golf Club
in Walla Walla, Washington,
fi nished with a two-day total
of 127.
Their 17-under par score
was good enough to top
three teams that fi nished in
a three-way tie for second,
which included the duo of
Jeff Coston, of Semiahmoo
Golf & Country Club, and
Blake Kukula, from Surfside
Golf Course in Ocean Park,
Washington.
Sharp, a PGA profes-
sional, and Daniels teamed
up to post a 65 in Thursday’s
fi rst round, followed by a 62
Friday.
The team of Coston and
Kukula had a 67 in the fi rst
round, followed by a 62 in
the fi nal round.
Other local competitors
included Joe Schulte (Astoria
Golf), and Branden Thomp-
son, who teamed up for a 135
(tied for 19th); John Thorsnes
(Astoria Golf), and David
Berlant (Columbia Edgewa-
ter), who carded a 137 (tied
for 31st); and Astoria Golf’s
John Kawasoe and Jay Ross
shot a 139, tied for 33rd.
Kevin Hertig (Asto-
ria Golf), and Louie Runge,
of Seattle, teamed for a 150
(50th).
It was the third time Asto-
ria Golf has hosted this event,
with previous tournaments
held at the course in 2016
and 2002.
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Re-elect
TOM
BROWNSON
City Council
Ward 2
We’re paying the bill.
They’re paying it forward.
Through the Pass It On Project, small businesses are making a big impact.
• We all want a prosperous, safe and
healthy Astoria.
• I stand by the work we have done
together these last 4 years.
• A vote for Brownson is a vote for
integrity, experience and know how.”
facebook.com/AstoriaWard2
All across the Northwest, small businesses are being challenged and individuals are
going without. Columbia Bank is here to help. Through the Pass It On Project, we’re
paying the bill so small businesses can provide their services to those in need. From
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