Pat Riley Now Calls Lakers Title Legitimate

On Sunday we brought you the news that Miami Heat president, Pat Riley felt the Los Angeles Lakers championship title should have an asterisk on it, and today, he's walked back his stance.

Riley spoke with the Miami Herald and had this to say about where the asterisk should land:

The asterisk is next to the Heat’s name, not the Lakers. Their title is legitimate. Our loss has an asterisk (next) to it. The Lakers were the better team. Period.

LeBron and company certainly couldn't care less about what Pat Riley has to say at this point, but for context, this is what originally came out of Riley's mouth:

They beat us fair and squarely. But there will always be that asterisk; if we had Bam and Goran 100% - Goran was our leading scorer (entering the Finals) - it might have gone to a seventh game

McSween's Take: This championship shouldn't have an asterisk, it should however be known as one of the hardest ever to win. Consider the Bubble, being away from your family, and any and everything to do with the pandemic. The Lakers deserve all the praise in the world and so does the NBA for even being able to pull this season off.

 Photo credit: Mark Halmas/Icon Sportswire