The Los Angeles Lakers knocked on the door of the NBA Finals last season. Even with a gassed-out LeBron James, they still had a chance to beat the Denver Nuggets in all four losses in the Western Conference Finals.
The Lakers didn’t need to make a lot of moves to bolster their roster ahead of the upcoming campaign. Still, GM Rob Pelinka did a solid job of making some minor tweaks to get better.
One of those tweaks was signing former Miami Heat guard Gabe Vincent, a hardnosed defender who can knock down shots from beyond the arc and a guy who’s fresh off a trip to the NBA Finals.
Gabe Vincent Chooses Gold Medal Over NBA Championship
The Lakers will be locked in to win a championship next season. However, their latest addition recently stated that he’d rather win a gold medal with Nigeria than the Larry O’Brien trophy:
“For me personally, I have been really looking forward to raising that Larry O’Brien Trophy. But, knowing how much it would mean to the 400 million-plus people in Nigeria, let alone the one point something billion in the continent of Africa,” he said on The Old Man & The Tree.
“That’s a hard one to pass up, you know getting a gold medal, especially in this sport where you know African teams haven’t had much a footing,” added Vincent. “Not only would it be fulfilling and great in its own way, but I think legacy-wise, it would stand taller, stand a little longer. So, I’m gonna reluctantly have to say gold medal with Nigeria; I think that would just be epic.”
Of course, we need to put things into context, and winning with Nigeria will be an even bigger achievement. But Laker Nation is ruthless, and they’ll spare no chances of getting under the players’ skins if they don’t say and do the right thing every time.