The Lakers took care of business in Game 6 Sunday night, defeating the Heat 106-93 en route to an NBA Finals win.
The win brings Los Angeles its 17th NBA title, which ties the Celtics for the most all time in NBA history. It also gives LeBron James his fourth title with his third different team (Heat, Cavs, Lakers). But there’s a lot more history than that to discuss.
Below, we’ll get into some of the more interesting stats associated with the Lakers’ 2023 NBA Finals win.
LeBron makes history with Finals MVP win
James won the NBA Finals MVP in a unanimous 11-0 vote, making him 4-for-4 in winning MVP when his team won the NBA Finals. He not only becomes the first player to win a Finals MVP with three different teams, but he also joined Michael Jordan in some elite company.
LeBron and Anthony Davis were a historic duo
We knew when Anthony Davis joined the Lakers that he’d make an impact, and he showed that in a big way when it mattered. Davis and James paired up to make some dominating performances throughout the NBA playoffs, and especially in the Finals.
James finished the series averaging 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists. Davis finished the series averaging 25.0 points, 10.7 rebounds 3.2 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.3 steals.
Jimmy Butler gave it his all
Even though the Heat fell short of winning the title, it’s worth noting Jimmy Butler’s performance. The Heat star only played fewer than 40 minutes in one game during the Finals, and that was in Game 1 when Miami was down 26 points entering the fourth quarter.
After Game 1, Butler rarely took breaks, and had some incredible performances (two triple doubles) to give the Heat two wins in this series.
LeBron is dominate everywhere he goes
After the Lakers win, James and Danny Green joined John Salley and Robert Horry as the only players to win NBA championships with three different franchises. But James is the only one of those players who averaged 25-plus points per game throughout those title runs. James didn’t just win titles, he led his teams to titles.
Lakers finish season 57-0 when leading after three quarters
This is truly a remarkable stat when you think about it. The Lakers were great at finishing opponents off this season, not losing a single game that they led when entering the final quarter. That isn’t easy to do, and it’s a key reason why they were able to take home the Finals trophy this year.
Rajon Rondo makes history in Lakers-Celtics rivalry
Despite the Lakers and Celtics each owning 17 NBA titles, only two players have ever won a title while playing for both teams. To take this stat further, Rondo becomes the only player to win a title with the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics.
Another interesting aspect of this is Rondo helped raise the Lakers’ 17th banner and also the Celtics’ 17th banner.
Rondo also now holds the largest gap between his first two rings (12 years). The largest gap between any two rings belongs to Sam Cassell (13 years).
Anthony Davis joined some elite company
We already mentioned how Davis and James made a great duo, but Davis is a star all on his own. He joined some other notable players with his 50-40-90 line (50 percent shooting, 40 percent 3-point shooting, 90 percent free throw shooting).
Anthony Davis joins basketball’s Triple Crown
Davis joins seven other players to win basketball’s Triple Crown — NCAA Championship, Olypmic Gold Medal, NBA Championship.
Here are the players to earn this achievement:
- Clyde Lovellette
- Bill Russell
- K.C Jones
- Jerry Lucas
- Quinn Bucker
- Magic Johnson
- Michael Jordan
- Anthony Davis
Danny Green makes interesting history
Despite missing the potential game-winning shot in Game 5, Danny Green still played an important role on this Lakers team. And he’s now won the NBA Finals in two straight seasons, with two different teams. He becomes just the sixth player to accomplish such a feat.
Here are all the players to earn this achievement:
- Pep Saul: Royals (1951), Lakers (1952)
- Jackie Moore: Nationals (1955), Warriors (1956)
- Steve Kerr: Bulls (1998), Spurs (1999)
- Patrick McCaw: Warriors (2018), Raptors (2019)
- Chris Boucher: Warriors (2018), Raptors (2019)
- Danny Green: Raptors (2019), Lakers (2020)
John Calipari alumn wins title
Kentucky coach John Calipari has had a lot of first-round NBA talent, but Davis becomes the first NBA champion.
LeBron James’ triple-doubles
James finished with another triple-double in Game 6, giving him 28 postseason triple-doubles. He’s now second most all-time behind Magic Johnson (30) in that category. He also has 11 career triple-doubles in the NBA Finals, which is the most in NBA history (beating out Johnson’s 8).
