HotRocks34 wrote:When the Lakers won the 2020 title, I said (here on RealGM) that the title was completely legit even if the circumstances were different than normal. Everyone faced the same obstacles, etc, etc. I battled doubters and Bubble Title Haters in a few threads.
However, I'm starting to think that under normal circumstances that the Lakers don't win that title. Thus, I'm personally starting to devalue the title slightly (though the title is never going away and LA should proudly claim it).
I say this because of the health/missed game issue for both Bron and Davis. Bron has now played four seasons in LA and in each season except the Bubble one, he's missed 20+ games. Davis has missed 25+ games in each of the last 4 seasons but the Bubble one.
Thus, to me, it seems like if these two did not get the four month interval, they likely break down physically again and miss out on the #1 seed and possibly aren't healthy for the playoffs, as well. Which, as we saw last year, would be the real issue (IMO; as compared with needing the #1 seed for a crowd-less, home-less Bubble playoffs).
Davis, of course, has always had health issues. Bron, sadly, is just wearing down with age. I saw it with Hakeem (my namesake here) and many others. It happens. But attrition is part of the sport, and in 2019-20 that factor was dramatically reduced in a way that may have almost uniquely aided LA.
Poll above and share your thoughts below.
I don’t see why it can’t be true both that It is legitimate because every team was in the same circumstance and the Lakers beat everyone they faced in the play-offs, and that LeBron and AD were advantaged by the reduced number of games. Neither LeBron nor AD was responsible for the pandemic.
