Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey is a well-respected executive around the league. He’s won everywhere he’s been, though he’s still looking for that first NBA championship.
Because of that, Morey could catch some flack for downplaying what the Los Angeles Lakers were able to accomplish during the 2019-20 NBA season. With the season severely impacted thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, teams had to play in a bubble down the stretch and into the playoffs.
When the dust settled, the Lakers overcame those restraints, winning the team’s first title in a decade. And it’s only title, so far, with superstar LeBron James.
But Morey and others around the league don’t see it that way. Morey said he and many others don’t consider the Lakers’ 2019-20 title a “genuine championship,” according to The Athletic.
It’s a bold claim, one that is certain to get Morey a ton of hate. Despite that, he still went on the record to call out the Lakers, and imply that many others around the NBA don’t respect that title.
If Morey is correct and many others share that sentiment, no one else is coming forward to share those thoughts. Every other person who answered a question about the legitimacy of the Lakers’ championship in The Athletic’s piece argued it’s a valid title, though none of those answers came from NBA executives.
It’s unclear why the Lakers’ 2019-20 NBA title is downplayed. Given the circumstances surrounding the pandemic, there’s an argument to be made it was one of the toughest championships in league history. That’s the track journalists Tim Reynolds and Kyle Goon took in The Athletic’s piece.
But Joe Vardon, the author of the article, provided one factor that may have helped the Lakers in the bubble. Vardon mentioned that the teams in the bubble didn’t have to travel, and that may have given the Lakers, who were a veteran squad, an advantage over other teams.
Maybe that was the difference for the James-led squad, though every other team played under the exact same circumstances.
Regardless of how others around the league feel, there’s not much to be done. The NBA was applauded in Vardon’s piece for the way it handled the bubble, and isn’t going to come out an invalidate a championship.
As far as the league is concerned, the Lakers are the champions of the very legitimate 2019-20 NBA season. Anyone claiming otherwise comes off looking like a sore loser.