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Slim Charlez wrote:

Lunartic wrote:For all the paranoid Lebron fans insisting that he is only reason people are questioning the 2020 title - you realize most people considered the Heat making the finals to be a fluke as well? Nothing was normal about 2020 and that includes the Lakers being able to practice (against NBA and locality rules), major injuries across the board and ridiculous ref-ball against the Nuggets.


Ask yourself, if the Wizards managed to win a title that season by defeating the Trailblazers on the backs of illegal practices/injuries/ref interference, would you consider that to be a normal title? We all know the answer to that.

Not everything is about Lebron.

Yeah I mean it's not like Miami is one of the best teams in the league now with almost the same roster, you remember how good the Suns were in the bubble? Such an aberration as well.

sp6r=underrated wrote:

jk31 wrote:There are people that want to discredit every championship and want to put an asteriks on each they don't like. You can find a reason for nearly EVERY year:

2020: Bubble Playoffs
2019: Durant is injured
2018: see 2017
2017: Durant joins the Warriors, how unfair!
2016: Draymond Green gets suspended, also Curry was not 100% because of prior injuries in the playoffs.
2015: both Love and Irving are injured in the Finals

You can continue this list forever and you will find a reason for each and every year, if you want to. Or, you just give credit where credit is due and say "you can only play under the circumstances and against the opponents that are given to you". It's all part of the game and if you go down as the winner, you definitely earned it!

Yup, I'll add a few off the top of my head.

1988: Phantom Foul
1998: two blown shot clock calls cost Utah 5 points and Jordan pushed off on the final shot in Game 6.
2003: Dirk hurt.
2014: Serge hurt for WCF who causes Spurs enormous problems.

I'm sure ten smart posters could come up with to asterick every title in an hour using a consistent set of criteria.

Lunartic wrote:

Slim Charlez wrote:

Lunartic wrote:For all the paranoid Lebron fans insisting that he is only reason people are questioning the 2020 title - you realize most people considered the Heat making the finals to be a fluke as well? Nothing was normal about 2020 and that includes the Lakers being able to practice (against NBA and locality rules), major injuries across the board and ridiculous ref-ball against the Nuggets.


Ask yourself, if the Wizards managed to win a title that season by defeating the Trailblazers on the backs of illegal practices/injuries/ref interference, would you consider that to be a normal title? We all know the answer to that.

Not everything is about Lebron.

Yeah I mean it's not like Miami is one of the best teams in the league now with almost the same roster, you remember how good the Suns were in the bubble? Such an aberration as well.

5th seed Miami was demolished by the Lakers in a finals that no one watched.

The Heat were 6th seed last season and got swept by the Bucks. Just because they're sitting on the top of the east this year doesn't meant they were legit contenders in 2020. They have acquired Lowry and have had several players improve since 2020.

The 2020 Heat are closer to that J Kidd Nets finals team, an aberration that was made possible by weird conditions. Given how noncompetitive they were against the Lakers in the Finals and then the Bucks the following year, I'd say I'm correct.

NZB2323 wrote:I’m going to have to seriously disagree with 1998 though. Go and check out the push off Reggie Miller got away with in the ECF; Jordan’s pat on the butt is nothing compared to that. That’s the way the game was called then. Unless it was egregious, refs swallowed their whistles in the finals seconds because no one wants to go to a game where the last play is the ref making a call. Nowadays the last 2 minutes of the game can take half an hour with the refs reviewing replays.

Slim Charlez wrote:

Lunartic wrote:

Slim Charlez wrote:
Yeah I mean it's not like Miami is one of the best teams in the league now with almost the same roster, you remember how good the Suns were in the bubble? Such an aberration as well.

5th seed Miami was demolished by the Lakers in a finals that no one watched.

The Heat were 6th seed last season and got swept by the Bucks. Just because they're sitting on the top of the east this year doesn't meant they were legit contenders in 2020. They have acquired Lowry and have had several players improve since 2020.

The 2020 Heat are closer to that J Kidd Nets finals team, an aberration that was made possible by weird conditions. Given how noncompetitive they were against the Lakers in the Finals and then the Bucks the following year, I'd say I'm correct.

You mean the J Kidd Nets teams that made not one but two finals in a row? see just full of contradictions and points that can be applied to practically every single season in NBA history. Also who cares if nobody watched? As a Spurs fan I could give a flying **** that no one watched our finals appearances pre 2013, why is that being brought up so much all of a sudden?

The Heat also dealt with injuries last season, especially to their best player and had a shorter off season compared to the rest of the league. What happened last season shows they weren't for real but not what happens in this one when the core's are almost identical doesn't?

sp6r=underrated wrote:

NZB2323 wrote:I’m going to have to seriously disagree with 1998 though. Go and check out the push off Reggie Miller got away with in the ECF; Jordan’s pat on the butt is nothing compared to that. That’s the way the game was called then. Unless it was egregious, refs swallowed their whistles in the finals seconds because no one wants to go to a game where the last play is the ref making a call. Nowadays the last 2 minutes of the game can take half an hour with the refs reviewing replays.

Even if you think the push off shouldn't have been called there were 2 blown 24 second shot clocks against Chicago. It gave the bulls 5 points.

NZB2323 wrote:

sp6r=underrated wrote:

NZB2323 wrote:I’m going to have to seriously disagree with 1998 though. Go and check out the push off Reggie Miller got away with in the ECF; Jordan’s pat on the butt is nothing compared to that. That’s the way the game was called then. Unless it was egregious, refs swallowed their whistles in the finals seconds because no one wants to go to a game where the last play is the ref making a call. Nowadays the last 2 minutes of the game can take half an hour with the refs reviewing replays.

Even if you think the push off shouldn't have been called there were 2 blown 24 second shot clocks against Chicago. It gave the bulls 5 points.

And if we went back and reviewed the whole game we could find blown calls that hurt Chicago. The Bulls point difference in the series was +46, and they weren’t going to lose a game 7 against Karl Malone, even if they lost game 6. Pippen also wouldn’t have a migraine 2 games in a row.

LivingLegend wrote:I truly wonder if people would be calling to put a astrik next to that championship if any other team other than the Lakers won it.

If the Bucks or Heat or Clippers won that ring, I have a suspicion it would be looked at completely differently.

Stalwart wrote:4 month layoff - check
No travel - check
No homecourt - check
No opposing crowds - check
Political strike - check

That's not an NBA title. NBA titles are a journey a team must be physically and mentally resilient enough to make it through. Its a grind. You go through a long regular season and then right into a long playoffs. The eventual champion has to push through all of that from beginning to end. TAKING A 4 MONTH LAYOFF kills the journey. That's an entire off season.

Also, over the course of a regular season teams develop chemistry and bonds that help carry them through the playoffs. TAKING A 4 MONTH LAYOFF kills all of that chemistry teams had built up. NBA teams, other than the Lakers who held secret practices, all came into the Bubble cold, unenthusiastic, and out of shape.

A NBA playoffs involve the grind of getting on and off planes and buses and in and out of hotels every night. You don't get to walk off the court and go right upstairs and go to bed lol. Also, in the NBA playoffs you're not confined and isolated from all family and civilization for 2 months. That unnatural situation will impact certain teams and players.

A NBA playoffs involve dealing with the pressure of the playoff atmosphere both in front of your own crowds but also in front of opposing, hostile crowds. The Bubble took that element out of the picture all together. Just guys in an empty BLM gym.

Not only did most players not even want to be there. Not only was there weeks and months of uncertainty where guys didnt even know if they were going to play. On top of that LEBRON JAMES PERSONALLY AND UNILATERALLY CALLED A POLITICAL STRIKE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TOURNAMENT lol. Guys had games cancelled and their minds jacked with even more.

So its not so much the Bubble win is illegitimate its just not a NBA playoffs thus not a NBA championship. The facts Lebron fans have to pretend this is a real title in order to prop up their guy is a bit pathetic. Its a clown show. Honk honk.

NZB2323 wrote:I blame Phil Jackson. He started all this talk about asterisk titles by saying the 99 championship should have an asterisk next to it. Now everyone looks to discredit championship seasons and put an asterisk next to it, which is funny because in 2000 when the Lakers won it all Tim Duncan was injured, and there were some questionable calls in the Lakers-Kings series in 2002.

Meanwhile the 99 Spurs went 15-2 in the playoffs, but because other players got fat during the lockout and the Spurs players stayed in shape and destroyed teams in the playoffs, Phil Jackson wants there to be an asterisk next to it.

dirkforpres wrote:

uberhikari wrote:

dirkforpres wrote:Because an old team got almost 5 months of rest before the playoffs started

The 2020 Lakers were not an old team.

They had a lot of old guys that played vital roles (Lebron, Green, Dwight, Rondo, etc). Not to mention they all got to miss 5 months of Anthony Davis playing… And when is the last time Anthony Davis was able to play 5 months without getting hurt?

uberhikari wrote:

dirkforpres wrote:

uberhikari wrote:
The 2020 Lakers were not an old team.

They had a lot of old guys that played vital roles (Lebron, Green, Dwight, Rondo, etc). Not to mention they all got to miss 5 months of Anthony Davis playing… And when is the last time Anthony Davis was able to play 5 months without getting hurt?

32 and 33 are not old. LeBron and Dwight were 34 and 35 respectively so I guess you can consider them old. But LeBron is not the typical NBA player so I wouldn't really consider him old, but given his mileage, the rest probably helped him. So, the Lakers had at most 2 players who were old.

I mean Steph Curry is 34. Is he old?