Game 7 memories from stars and celebs: Kobe Bryant stands out
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night had a number of sports celebrities — from outside the basketball world, even — thinking of one player.
Kobe Bryant.
Bryant played in only one Game 7 of a finals, that coming in 2010, but for plenty in the sports world his 23-point, 15-rebound effort that led the Los Angeles Lakers to an 83-79 win over the Boston Celtics for his fifth and final championship still stands out as the quintessential moment from ultimate games.
The NBA asked celebrities and star athletes what Game 7 makes them think of, and some of the responses got right to the point.
'Kobe,' soccer legend David Beckham said.
'What do I think?? I think Lakers 2010 — Pau (Gasol) and Kobe,' tennis star Carlos Alcaraz said.
Another tennis great, Novak Djokovic, said he thought of Lakers-Celtics in 2010 and the Cleveland-Golden State finale where LeBron James and Kyrie Irving came up big late for the Cavaliers in 2016.
'I'm thinking about electric atmosphere on the stands, no one is seated for the whole game,' Djokovic said. 'I'm thinking about Kobe and Gasol stellar performance in Game 7 of 2010 Lakers-Celtics and I'm thinking about LeBron's block and Irving's 3 pointer to seal the deal for Cavs vs Warriors Game 7 in 2016 thriller.'
Cavs-Warriors 2016 another memory
Part of the lore of the Cleveland-Golden State finale in 2016 wasn't just James getting a chase-down block against the Warriors' Andre Iguodala in the final moments. It was also ABC announcer Mike Breen's description of the call.
Tennis player Ben Shelton and Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua both remembered Breen's line perfectly: 'Blocked by James,' they both responded.
Other quotes
A selection of other responses collected by the NBA:
'Where legends are born.' — tennis' Frances Tiafoe.
'This is basketball, the game that everybody wants to watch. Can't wait !!!!!!!' — soccer star Kylian Mbappé.
''All eyes.' It's my stage.' — Colorado football coach and former NFL and MLB star Deion Sanders.
'GOAT TIME.' — NFL legend Jerry Rice.
'When I hear the words Game 7, I automatically think of the epic and legendary 3-pointer that Ray Allen made in Game 6 to force Game 7, where my Miami Heat team went on to win the NBA Finals championship.' — rapper Flo Rida.
'It's About to Go Down!!! Who will become legend? MJ, Kobe, Bron … who's next?' — Cedric the Entertainer.
Thursdays
Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.
'Control what you can control mentality! I just wanted to make sure I did all the little things for my team.' — Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade.
'Everything you ever worked on and worked for is all in this one moment. Take it play by play … leave it all on the court.' — former Heat guard Mario Chalmers.
'Play into the emotion. Don't expect fair. Expect the unimaginable.' — Cleveland's Iman Shumpert, part of the 2016 Cavs win.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
44 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
MVP. Finals MVP. Scoring champ. NBA champ. OKC's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander now holds all those titles
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — He's the most valuable player. The scoring champion. And now, an NBA champion along with NBA Finals MVP. All in one season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has entered one of the game's most elite clubs. The 26-year-old Canadian is atop the basketball world now in almost every way imaginable. Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder captured the NBA title on Sunday night, beating the Indiana Pacers 103-91 to win the finals in a seven-game thriller. He becomes the fourth player in NBA history to win MVP, Finals MVP, a scoring title and play for a champion in the same season. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it once, Michael Jordan then did it four times, and Shaquille O'Neal was the last entrant into that fraternity — until now. 'A lot of hard work, a lot of hours in the gym,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'This isn't just a win for me. This is a win for my family. This is a win for my friends. This is a win for everybody that was in my corner growing up. This is a win for the fans, the best fans in the world.' The title caps a season where the Thunder won 84 games, tied for the third most by any team in any season in NBA history. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the season with 64 games of at least 30 points. The only other players to score 30 points that many times in a season: Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Bob McAdoo, James Harden, Jordan and Abdul-Jabbar. It is amazing company. With due respect to those legends, Gilgeous-Alexander doesn't care. The Thunder are NBA champions. That's more than enough for him. 'Focusing on just being the best version of myself for this basketball team, for whatever it takes, for however many games it is, however many possessions is needed, however many moments,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'Ultimately, I'm just trying to stay in the moment. I think that's what's gotten me here. That's what has helped me achieve the MVP award, achieve all the things I've achieved. It's helped this team win basketball games.' This was not a sneak attack up the ladder of superstardom. Gilgeous-Alexander has been climbing those rungs for years. He's one of only two players — Giannis Antetokounmpo is the other — to average at least 30 points per game in each of the last three seasons. He led Canada to a bronze medal (over the United States, no less) at the World Cup in 2023, been an All-Star and first-team All-NBA pick for three years running, played in his first Olympics last year, and just finished a season where he posted career bests in points and assists per game. He scored 3,172 points this season, including playoffs, the ninth-most by any player in NBA history. Oh, and he's a champion now. 'He's getting better every year in just about everything,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. 'I think he's really improved as a playmaker. … And then he's an unbelievable scorer, and incredibly efficient. We lean into that. He leans into that. He's learned when teams load up on him and they overcommit, to get off it early, and I think that's reflected in the way we've played offense throughout the course of the season.' Opponents have no choice but to marvel at how Gilgeous-Alexander does what he does. He's not a high-flying artist like Jordan, not an unstoppable force of power like LeBron James, not a 3-point dazzler like Stephen Curry. He looks like he's playing at his own pace much of time, largely because defenses have few ways to slow him down or speed him up. 'Shai, he's so good,' Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton — who suffered a serious lower leg injury that knocked him out of Game 7 in the first quarter — said during the series. 'He's so slippery in between those gaps. He splits screens, like, I don't know how he's doing that. … He's a really tough cover.' Gilgeous-Alexander is the face of basketball in Oklahoma City, is rapidly becoming one of the faces of the NBA — his jersey is now one of the highest-selling — and it's no secret that he is the icon for fans in Canada now. It used to be Steve Nash, the first Canadian to win NBA MVP. Now, Nash has help. 'You can only imagine and get excited about all the kids around the world, but in particular Canadians that will be affected so positively, whether they're basketball players or not, by the way he carries himself, by the way he executes and commits to his profession,' Nash said. 'It's remarkable and he's an amazing example for everybody out there, not just kids.' There's no question Nash had some impact on Gilgeous-Alexander's rise in the game. Another great who did: Kobe Bryant. There are parallels: similar body types, even similar ways they answer questions. Bryant famously said 'job's not finished' when asked about his Lakers getting within two wins of a title one year; Gilgeous-Alexander had a similar moment after the Thunder got to three wins in this series, saying 'we haven't done anything.' They have now. 'He is probably my favorite player of all time,' Gilgeous-Alexander said of Bryant. 'Never got the chance to meet him. With me, with kids all across the world, his influence has gone through the roof. He'll be remembered forever because of the competitor and the basketball player he was. Yeah, I'm hopefully somewhere close to that as a basketball player one day.' Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. He's not there yet. But Gilgeous-Alexander got one day closer Sunday, when he reached basketball's mountaintop for the first time. 'It means everything,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'We rose to the moment. And here we are.' ___ AP NBA:
Toronto Sun
an hour ago
- Toronto Sun
GAME 7: Gilgeous-Alexander scores 29 points as Thunder beats Pacers for NBA title
Published Jun 22, 2025 • 2 minute read Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder celebrates with his son Ares after defeating the Indiana Pacers 103-91 in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center on June 22, 2025, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Photo by Justin Ford / Getty Images OKLAHOMA CITY — Hamilton's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished off his MVP season with 29 points and 12 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA championship, pulling away in the second half to beat the Indiana Pacers 103-91 on Sunday night. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Gilgeous-Alexander added an NBA Finals MVP to his resume as well after claiming the MVP award in the regular season. Jalen Williams scored 20 and Chet Holmgren had 18 for the Thunder, who were pushed to a Game 7 brink in the NBA Finals — but finished off a season for the ages. Oklahoma City won 84 games between the regular season and the playoffs, tying the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls for third most in any season. Only Golden State (88 in 2016-17) and the Bulls (87 in 2015-16) won more. It's the second championship for the franchise. The Seattle SuperSonics won the NBA title in 1979; the team was moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. There's nothing in the rafters in Oklahoma City to commemorate that title. Next October, a championship banner is finally coming. A Thunder banner. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It was not easy to secure. RECOMMENDED VIDEO The Pacers led 48-47 at the half even after losing star guard Tyrese Haliburton to what his father said was an Achilles tendon injury about seven minutes into the game. But they were outscored 34-20 in the third quarter as the Thunder built a 13-point lead and began to run away. Montreal's Bennedict Mathurin had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, which still is waiting for its first NBA title. The Pacers — who were 10-15 after 25 games and were bidding to be the first team in NBA history to turn that bad of a start into a championship — had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the series, but they simply didn't have enough in the end. Home teams are now 16-4 in NBA Finals Game 7s. And the Thunder became the seventh champion in the last seven seasons, a run of parity like none other in NBA history. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Pacers forward Pascal Siakam was part of the Toronto team that won in 2019, Thunder guard Alex Caruso was part of the Los Angeles Lakers team that won in the pandemic 'bubble' in 2020, Milwaukee won in 2021, Golden State in 2022, Pacers forward Thomas Bryant and Denver prevailed in 2023 and Boston won last year's title. The Thunder are the ninth franchise to win a title in NBA commissioner Adam Silver's 12 seasons leading the league. His predecessor, David Stern, saw eight franchises win titles in his 30 seasons as commissioner. Read More Editorials Sports Sunshine Girls Relationships Toronto & GTA
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Sports scoreboard for Sunday, June 22, 2025
Saturday's Scoreboard MLB American League Chicago White Sox 4 Toronto 2 N.Y. Yankees 4 Baltimore 2 Detroit 9 Tampa Bay 3 Cleveland 3 Athletics 0 Houston 8 L.A. Angels 7 National League Philadelphia 7 N.Y. Mets 1 Miami 5 Atlanta 3 Cincinnati 4 St. Louis 1 Colorado 4 Arizona 2 L.A. Dodgers 13 Washington 7 Interleague San Diego 3 Kansas City 2 Pittsburgh 8 Texas 3 Milwaukee 9 Minnesota 8 Seattle 14 Chicago Cubs 6 San Francisco 9 Boston 5 — NBA Finals Oklahoma City 103 Indiana 91 (Oklahoma City wins best-of-seven series 4-3) — WNBA Atlanta 93 Chicago 80 Washington 91 Dallas 88 (OT) Las Vegas 89 Indiana 81 Seattle 89 New York 79 Golden State 87 Connecticut 63 — Canadian Elite Basketball League Calgary 100 Vancouver 83 Scarborough 102 Niagara 70 Ottawa 89 Brampton 76 Montreal 93 Saskatchewan 89 Edmonton 98 Winnipeg 85 — Northern Super League Montreal 0 Vancouver 0 — Canadian Premier League Atletico (Ottawa) 0 York United (Toronto) 0 Forge (Hamilton) 5 Valour (Winnipeg) 0 Cavalry (Calgary) 1 Pacific FC (Greater Victoria) 0 —
