"The Emperor! The Emperor! The Emperor!"
"MVP! MVP! MVP!!!"
Seeing Blake celebrating so freely, the home crowd instinctively joined in, filling the arena with chants of "The Emperor" and "MVP."
The noise was deafening.
Blake simply smiled and soaked it all in.
At that moment, Mia Quinn stood up from her front-row seat near the bench.
Surrounded by the electric atmosphere inside the arena, she stared at Blake and momentarily lost herself in the sight.
In her eyes, the man wearing No. 0, surrounded by teammates and basking in thunderous cheers from the entire building, was the most handsome, charismatic, perfect man in the world.
And the man she loved most.
While she was still staring, someone suddenly appeared in front of her.
She looked up, her eyes widening slightly.
"Blake... you..."
Before Mia Quinn could finish, Blake pulled her straight into his arms.
Breathing in her faint fragrance, he laughed happily.
"Mia, we won. I'm a champion."
"Mm-hmm."
Mia Quinn quickly came back to her senses and nodded happily, hugging him just as tightly.
Only after a long moment did they finally separate.
"Go home first tonight. Don't wait up for me, okay?"
Blake whispered happily into Mia Quinn's ear.
Then he turned and hugged Yoona, who was standing beside her and looking just as delighted.
"Congratulations!"
Yoona smiled.
"Thanks."
Blake smiled back. "And thanks for coming to watch. So, how was I tonight? Didn't disappoint you, did I?"
Yoona raised both thumbs, smiling brightly.
"You were the best tonight. You're the one and only MVP!"
Mia Quinn leaned over and raised a thumb as well.
"Haha!"
Blake laughed.
"I'll take both of you out to dinner in a few days!"
"Blake, congratulations!"
While Blake was talking with Mia Quinn and Yoona, he heard someone calling from behind.
He turned around.
"The Answer" Allen Iverson was walking over from the stands.
Blake gave Mia Quinn and Yoona a quick gesture, then turned and embraced Iverson.
"Blake, you were incredible tonight," Iverson said with a smile. "You were the 'superhero.' You were God out there. You saved the Suns."
Blake smiled.
"I did whatever it took to win. Fortunately... I was the one smiling at the end."
"Hahaha."
Iverson laughed.
"That's how it is. If you want to win, sometimes you have to do whatever it takes. In the end, people remember the winner."
After chatting for a while, Iverson left.
Kobe came over next.
Neither man said much at first. They simply smiled and embraced.
"Hey, man," Kobe said. "When you got hurt, I thought you were finished. Then you came back like nothing happened.
"Sixteen points in 35 seconds, then a hand-switch three for the game-winner?
"You really pulled that off.
"Congratulations on the championship.
"Yeah, you crushed my dream of another dynasty, but what you did tonight was incredible.
"I have to give you credit.
"You were the biggest reason the Suns won this championship. Really, you were the reason.
"You carried this team to the title.
"That was special."
"Thanks."
Blake accepted the praise with a smile.
Tonight, he had no intention of being overly modest.
He wanted to enjoy every bit of recognition he'd earned.
"But..."
Kobe paused before continuing.
"This season is over. The Suns are champions, and there's no question you're going to be Finals MVP.
"But next season, I'm bringing the Lakers back.
"We'll meet again in the playoffs.
"And then... I'm beating you."
"Anytime."
Blake grinned.
"Good luck, man. Tonight belongs to you."
Kobe smiled, patted Blake on the shoulder, and walked away.
Wall, Jordan, and several others came over afterward to congratulate Blake.
Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, and other celebrities also approached him for photos and congratulated him on winning the championship.
...
At the commentary table, Van Gundy and Mike Breen had been beside themselves from the moment Blake hit the game-winner.
It took them quite a while after the final buzzer to finally calm down.
"Ahem..."
Van Gundy coughed several times, clearing a throat that had gone hoarse from all the shouting.
Then he spoke with renewed excitement.
"Congratulations to the Phoenix Suns.
"They are NBA champions.
"And after 43 years, this franchise finally has its first championship.
"And once again, it was 'The Emperor' Blake who became the 'Sun God,' the 'superhero' when his team needed him most.
"The Suns were down 1-3 in this series.
"Blake got hurt in Game 7 and had to return to the locker room.
"But he came back, and somehow he ripped this championship right out of the hands of the Heat Big Three.
"What an extraordinary accomplishment.
"This is a Finals series that will be remembered for a very long time.
"And there is absolutely no question who tonight's MVP was.
"This was Blake's night.
"'The Emperor' owned Game 7.
"He didn't just carry his team to the championship. After what he did in Game 6, he came back tonight and shattered even more records.
"So let's go through everything Blake accomplished in this unbelievable Game 7 performance."
First...
Blake finished with 64 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 4 blocks.
Another absurdly complete stat line.
And among those numbers...
He made 13 three-pointers.
That alone broke the playoff record of 12 that Blake himself had set in the previous game.
Just three days later, he had already broken his own record.
And before these playoffs began, the single-game playoff record had been only nine.
Second, Blake's 64 points set a new personal playoff high.
More importantly, he surpassed Michael Jordan's famous 63-point game and established a new single-game NBA playoff scoring record.
Third, Blake had now scored at least 40 points in 11 consecutive playoff games, extending his own record for consecutive 40-point games in the postseason.
Fourth, his streak of 50-point playoff games grew from eight to nine.
Another record of his own extended.
To put that in perspective, Michael Jordan was second with only two consecutive 50-point playoff games.
No third player had even managed three in a row.
That alone showed just how absurd Blake's streak had become.
Fifth, Blake had scored 62 points in the previous game.
Tonight, he scored 64.
That made him the first and only player in NBA playoff history to score 60 or more points in consecutive games.
And he was also the only player in NBA Finals history to accomplish it.
How ridiculous is that?
And Blake still wasn't done breaking records.