Why has the *asterisk narrative changed?

[Cubbies2120]

Over the past couple decades on realgm, as well as by some notable names in the NBA (particularly Shaq, Phil Jackson), the Spurs '99 championship was cast under a shadow of an asterisk.

Whenever there would be a {Player A} vs {Player B} debate, talk of an asterisk championship would come up on these boards.

The argument was "It was an abnormal season, therefore it deserves an asterisk as it was a shortened season, teams couldn't play into shape, etc.".

This year, however, the same folks that were arguing the Spurs '99 championship deserves an asterisk are claiming that the winner of the bubble-ring does not deserve one, since all teams are going through the same thing.

This season's champions will have essentially played a shortened season (8 games + playoffs). The time between when the NBA stopped & restarted again was LONGER THAN A NORMAL OFFSEASON..

Going back to the previous argument of '99 ("teams couldn't play into shape"), teams were literally not allowed to be together during the Covid-19 "offseason". So why isn't the same argument being used now to discredit the ring of whichever team wins it all this season?

IMO, if you discredit one ring due to 'abnormal circumstances', you absolutely must discredit this year's ring.

Personally, I think both rings are valid, so this isn't a shot at Miami or the Lakers.

[Homer38]

The asterisk has always been so stupid ... It was the same rules for everyone .... Asterisk is only for cheaters like the Houston Astros in Baseball.

[God Squad]

Your teams wins = Asterisk
My team wins = No Asterisk

RealGM Logic

[pontius]

There's no asterisk to winning. If there is one where do you draw the line? Shortened season? Injuries? Lockdown? Postponed season? No crowds? Other outside factors that can influence players?

[youngcrev]

Is it the same people making that argument? You'll find a ton of people that will argue things either way on this site. There was certainly asterisk talk prior to this starting, and I'm sure it'll be a topic again once this things done with. I don't image it was that big of a topic while the '99 playoffs were actually going on.

Side note, I think there will absolutely be an asterisk on this year due to the insane circumstances. Whether you choose to view that asterisk as a negative is up to you.

[naabzor]

Because it is still even field. Every team is in the same situation so why put an asterisk.

[Freighttrain]

Asterisks, in general, are some weird form of mental gymnastics to dismiss a certain team's capability of winning due to unforeseen circumstances. It's all pretty narrative-based and when it's all said and done, people won't care nor remember the path to victory but victory in itself.

[Cavsfansince84]

Because it comes naturally to some people to try and diminish the accomplishments of other people for their own selfish reasons. The original asterisk in sports was put next to Roger Maris when he broke Babe Ruth's single season hr record and was not liked at all by the media while Ruth was the biggest icon in both baseball and possibly all of sports at that time. So they added the asterisk on the basis that since Maris played in a 162 game season compared to Ruth's 154 that his total was somehow unfair and deserved an asterisk next to it. So in record books Maris' 61 would actually look like this 61* with a note at the bottom about how he needed more games to break the record. Its the same bull**** people do today when they try to find reasons to add them to things.

[Zvaart]

As always: intercourse the asterisks !

[Bergmaniac]

The whole point of asterisk championship is to discredit players and teams you don't like. Thus, all mental gymnastics and inconsistencies are allowed.

[yoyoboy]

Did LeBron or the Warriors win? Asterisk.
Did someone else win? No asterisk.

That’s basically been the logic around here for years now.

[Homer38]

We can put asterisk on almost every champion for random reason if we want.

Like 2015 Warriors, cavs injuries
2016 Cavs , suspension by Draymond
2017 Warriors, Zaza's dirty play on Kawhi
2018 Warriors, Chris Paul injury when the warriors were down 3-2
2019 Raptors, KD injury

My point is that the haters can always say negative things to the champions no matter what but a team can just control what they can

[celticfan42487]

Did LeBron or the Warriors win? Asterisk.
Did someone else win? No asterisk.

That’s basically been the logic around here for years now.

Did you miss the entire last year?

[celtics543]

Every year you could make an argument that a champion isn't legit. Usually it's injuries but sometimes it's other extenuating circumstances like a suspension or a global pandemic that causes the league to shutdown for a while.

The bottom line is every team played under the same conditions. It's not like the Lakers came out of nowhere in the bubble, they were a title favorite all year. If we had ended up with an Orlando vs Portland NBA finals then sure I can see casting some doubt over the legitimacy but this could have been the Finals even if they had occurred in June.

[The_Hater]

This entire asterisk thing for champions is something brand new that has developed in the social media era. People just have this need to discredit or diminish the highest accomplishment now. It’s all total bunk.

[LFAHFN22]

Asterisks have always been kind of absurd. The ones applying them usually didn't have a horse in the race. Whether it's a season with the college three, a shortened season, or bubble basketball, the same rules applied to everyone.

As for injuries and suspensions. . . You can only play who's in front of you.

[Zvaart]

Did LeBron or the Warriors win? Asterisk.
Did someone else win? No asterisk.

That’s basically been the logic around here for years now.

nope.

some are trying to put an asterisk on raptor's win last year, as well.

so everybody gets an asterisk.

[camby23]

It's because of LeBron.

Most of LeBron's haters are Jordan stans. In the last 20 years, LBJ was the only player with a skillset that could match or even beat Jordan's legacy (Magic Johnson on steroids + elite scoring). So since he started to play in the league, he had to deal with an incredible amount of hatred from the Jordan sect (both ordinary fans and big part of american media). Now they will undermine his success in every possible way.

That was obvious and very predictable right after the Lakers eliminated the Rockets.

[E-Balla]

Asterisk just means the circumstances behind the win were extraordinary. In this case I say an asterisk is needed because of the rest prior to the playoffs (making the regular season wear and year irrelevant and punishing teams like the Clippers that rested players), the lack of HCA, and the lack of crowds.

This is a championship to see who's the best basketball team, usually the championship proves who's the best NBA team and those aren't necessarily the same thing.

[Nate the Great]

Because it comes naturally to some people to try and diminish the accomplishments of other people for their own selfish reasons. The original asterisk in sports was put next to Roger Maris when he broke Babe Ruth's single season hr record and was not liked at all by the media while Ruth was the biggest icon in both baseball and possibly all of sports at that time. So they added the asterisk on the basis that since Maris played in a 162 game season compared to Ruth's 154 that his total was somehow unfair and deserved an asterisk next to it. So in record books Maris' 61 would actually look like this 61* with a note at the bottom about how he needed more games to break the record. Its the same bull**** people do today when they try to find reasons to add them to things.

The commissioner of baseball who made that decision was Ford Frick, who had been a close friend of Babe Ruth. As usual, a distinction like this is only made by people who have something to gain from it emotionally.