The Los Angeles Lakers are the 2019-20 NBA champions.

LeBron James is the NBA Finals MVP for the fourth time in his career, adding to an incredible list of accomplishments. 

It took a little longer to get there than usual, but given all that they had to overcome over the past few months, I’m sure that only made it even more special for LeBron and his teammates. 

Here is the Morning Coffee for Monday Oct. 12, 2020.

Lakers Are NBA Champions

The Lakers beat the Miami Heat 106-93 in Game 6 to clinch the title.

As crazy as it might sound, Miami’s Game 5 win actually lowered the number for L.A. to win the championship enough to open the door for some money to be wagered on the Lakers.

Prior to Game 5, Los Angeles was -10000 to win the series. After Game 5, the Lakers were -600 to win it all.

Teams that lead 3-1 in the NBA Finals are now 35-1 all-time.

Here is a first look at the NBA championship odds for 2021:

Los Angeles Lakers +375

Los Angeles Clippers +425

Milwaukee Bucks +650

Golden State Warriors +750

Brooklyn Nets +1000

Boston Celtics +1200

Miami Heat +1300

Toronto Raptors +1700

Denver Nuggets +2000

Houston Rockets +2200

Philadelphia 76ers +3000

Portland Trail Blazers +3500

Utah Jazz +4000

New Orleans Pelicans +5000

Oklahoma City Thunder +6600

Phoenix Suns +6600

Atlanta Hawks +10000

Chicago Bulls +10000

Indiana Pacers +10000

Memphis Grizzlies +10000

Washington Wizards +15000

Minnesota Timberwolves +20000

Orlando Magic +20000

San Antonio Spurs +25000

Charlotte Hornets +30000

Detroit Pistons +35000

New York Knicks +35000

NFL Sunday Highs And Lows

The fifth NFL Sunday of the season featured some incredible highs and some terrible lows.

Canadian Chase Claypool exploded for four touchdowns in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ (-7) 38-29 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Claypool’s 110 receiving yards were 47 more than the other four Pittsburgh wide receivers that made a reception in the game combined.

TSN NFL analyst Davis Sanchez had some high praise for the Abbotsford, B.C. native.

The Steelers are 4-0 for the first time since they did it in back-to-back seasons in 1978 and 1979. They won the Super Bowl in both of those seasons.

Next up, Pittsburgh will host the 4-1 Cleveland Browns as a 4.5-point favourite next Sunday afternoon.

It was heartbreaking to watch Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott helped off the field after suffering a significant ankle injury.

Prescott, who was playing on the franchise tag this season, was off to an incredible start with 1,856 passing yards – the fourth-most pass yards through five games in NFL history.

This moment when his coach and former coach walked out onto the field to check on him really stuck with me.

After everything that Prescott has done to help so many others over the years and for the talent that he is, I hope he is able to quickly return to full strength.

Adam Schefter provided this update late Sunday night:

For now, Dallas will turn to Andy Dalton as their starter.

Since 2006, the Cowboys have had eight different starting quarterbacks other than Prescott and Tony Romo. Those passers have gone a combined 10-23.

For what it’s worth, the Cowboys opened as a three-point favourite against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6, but that number moved to Arizona -2.5 after Prescott’s injury.

Monday Night Football On TSN

Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints (-7) will host rookie Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football.

The Saints won’t have Michael Thomas in their lineup, but supposedly not because he was questionable to play with an ankle injury.

With fantasy football league managers already trying to avoid the implications of positive COVID-19 tests while navigating bye weeks, finding out that Thomas not playing “isn’t injury-related” is a tough break.

New Orleans is just 6-9 ATS over its last 15 games when favoured by seven points or more.

Meanwhile, Herbert is 0-2 straight up and 2-0 ATS as an underdog, losing but covering against both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

You can catch Monday Night Football across the TSN Network tonight.

Coverage begins with NFL Monday Night Countdown at 6 p.m. ET.