"I'll say it straight. I'm here to lead this team to a championship!"
That was Blake's answer.
Bold and commanding.
From the moment Blake entered the league, the entire NBA seemed to start revolving around him. He had always been the center of attention for both the media and the fans.
And his performances had more than lived up to the hype.
Regular-season MVP.
He took a Suns team that had been near the bottom of the Western Conference and transformed it into the top team in the West, even the best team in the entire league.
Then came the playoffs.
Blake tore through every opponent in his path and carried Phoenix to the Finals as the team's lone superstar.
Everything he had accomplished seemed almost unbelievable, almost impossible.
Yet it had all happened right before everyone's eyes.
And it seemed to prove one thing.
The "Monster Rookie" Blake, now "The Emperor," had burst onto the scene as if he had been destined to lead the Suns to a championship.
And now, on the stage of Game 7, Blake himself had said it out loud.
It was bold.
It was electrifying.
"Boom!"
Just like Wade's declaration before the game, Blake's words instantly set the entire arena on fire.
The Suns' home crowd roared even louder, completely overwhelming Miami in terms of atmosphere.
With "Flash" Wade and "The Emperor" Blake both laying down the challenge before tip-off, the tension had already reached a boiling point before the game even began.
Soon, the two-hour pregame buildup finally came to an end.
Both starting lineups stepped onto the court and gathered at center circle.
Game 7 of the NBA Finals...
began!
"Jump ball!"
Once again, Blake and Bosh met at center court for the opening tip.
"Aaaah!"
"CB4" Bosh roared as he leaped with everything he had, hoping that in the final game of the series, he could at least win the Heat the opening possession.
But he was asking for too much.
"Smack!"
With his overwhelming physical gifts, "The Emperor" Blake once again beat Bosh to the ball and tapped it away first.
"Smack!"
Curry secured it and passed to Steve Nash, who brought the ball up for Phoenix's first possession of the night.
The first possession of the final game of the entire season.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
Nash reached the top of the arc and handed the ball off to Blake.
"Step!"
Bosh moved up to meet him, becoming Miami's first line of defense.
Blake stared him down, slowly shifting the ball from side to side as he searched for his rhythm.
"Whoosh!"
The instant the ball settled into his right hand, Blake exploded to the right.
One lightning-fast burst.
One sudden stop.
Then a between-the-legs pullback.
Bosh's momentum carried him the wrong way, and Blake created immediate separation.
"Whoosh!"
Blake rose for a nearly uncontested mid-range jumper.
"Swish!"
Good.
Suns 2, Heat 0.
Blake opened the game by shaking "CB4" Bosh and burying the jumper, giving Phoenix the first points of the night and bringing the home crowd to its feet.
Miami came right back.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
LeBron brought the ball across half court and reached the left side of the arc, where Blake picked him up.
Bosh came over to screen.
LeBron used it and moved toward the middle.
"Whoosh!"
George rotated over, but LeBron accelerated straight at him with a bulldozing drive.
George stayed in front of him all the way to the basket.
But the difference in strength was simply too great.
"Thud!"
LeBron powered through the contact, knocked George backward, and banked in the layup.
An immediate answer.
And an emphatic one.
"Wow! Blake and LeBron have both opened this game by attacking one-on-one, and both have come out incredibly aggressive!
"Neither one is giving an inch.
"They've both set the tone for their teams right from the start!"
Phoenix possession.
Nash brought the ball up again and immediately went back to Blake.
Bosh pressed up tightly.
Against Blake, he couldn't afford to lose focus for even a second.
But...
"Whoosh!"
Blake hit him with a right-handed in-and-out dribble and suddenly exploded forward.
His acceleration was devastating.
Once again, Bosh was left behind.
But this time...
"Step!"
"Step!"
LeBron and Wade immediately rotated over from both sides.
At the same time, Bosh sprinted back into the play from behind.
All three were about to collapse on Blake.
"Whoosh!"
Blake immediately kicked the ball out.
He needed to manage his stamina, so there was no reason to force his way through three defenders.
At times like this, he had to trust his teammates.
"Smack!"
Nash caught the pass on the left side, quickly redirected it across the floor, and found Stephen Curry in the left corner.
"Whoosh!"
Curry was already set.
He rose and fired.
"Swish!"
Nothing but net.
"Great shot!"
"That's it, Curry!"
The crowd erupted.
If Curry could start scoring early, it would take a tremendous amount of pressure off Blake.
But the celebration didn't even last a full possession.
LeBron brought the ball back the other way, drove past Blake, then kicked it out to Bosh on the perimeter.
Bosh caught the ball and found himself completely open.
"Whoosh!"
He let the three fly.
At this point in his career, Bosh wasn't much of a three-point shooter.
The three wasn't really part of his regular scoring arsenal.
But...
"Swish!"
He buried it.
"Nice!"
LeBron grinned as he ran back on defense and slapped hands with Bosh.
"CB4" Bosh normally relied on his mid-range jumper, post game, and face-up drives.
Perimeter threes weren't his strength.
But he had knocked down his very first attempt.
That early rhythm and confidence from Bosh was exactly what LeBron wanted to see.
"Both teams have been extremely efficient to start the game," Van Gundy said with a smile. "Nobody has missed yet.
"This matchup was already intense before the opening tip, and now they're trading baskets right from the start.
"What a beginning!"
Mike Breen nodded.
"Both teams are completely locked in.
"They're playing carefully, but aggressively, because neither side wants to waste a single possession."
As the two commentators spoke, Nash brought the ball up again.
He lofted a high pass to Blake on the right side of the high post.
Blake caught it with his back to "CB4" Bosh.
"Blake wants to post Bosh up.
"Chalmers is creeping over, looking to double.
"Blake... Blake fakes the pass back out to Nash at the top.
"Chalmers doesn't bite.
"And Blake holds onto the ball because Wade is already stationed near the free-throw line, ready to rotate over the moment Chalmers commits to the double.
"Curry is curling out from the right corner.
"Is Blake going to hit Curry?
"Wow! Blake throws it toward the rim instead!
"What is he doing?!
"Wow! George, completely forgotten on the weak side, cuts in from the left corner and takes off!
"BOOM!
"Alley-oop!
"George throws it down!
"Haslem was so focused on Blake that he stood frozen under the basket!
"That's how much attention Blake commands!"
Van Gundy exclaimed excitedly.
Mike Breen laughed.
"That's Blake Gravity.
"As long as he's on the floor, the defense has to account for him at all times."
"Exactly."
Van Gundy nodded.
"Both teams have come out firing tonight.
"From the opening tip, they've been trading blow for blow.
"This is already shaping up to be one incredible game!"