- Charlie Ward defends Lakers 2020 campaign
- The former guard sticks it to the haters with ‘reality’
- 2020 title is compared to the 1999 Finals when Spurs beat the 8th-seeded Knicks
According to LeBron James himself, the 2020 championship was the hardest in NBA history. Besides forcing players to move away from their homes and spend weeks on end competing in a quarantined area of Disney World, the whole experience was happening as the world outside was still coming to grips with the pandemic.
Of course, on the other side, there are those who discredit the 2020 bubble entirely. For some, that year was so different from the normal that it cannot and should not be counted with the same weight as the others.
Addressing this crowd, 11-year NBA veteran Charlie Ward defended the Lakers and explained that their title victory in 2020 will never be erased.
“They’re both champions and they will go down in the history books as champions,” he said in a chat with Brandon Robinson on ‘Scoop B Selects.’ ”The people on the outside saying that it doesn’t count, they have a trophy and rings to say otherwise and so, that’s all that counts because when it’s all said and done at the end of the day they’re going to have in the record books those two teams [Lakers and 1999 Spurs] as the champions. I like the outside opinions which is great but when it’s reality.”
Lakers Bubble Championship being compared to Spurs’ 1999 Championship is dumb says Charlie Ward on Scoop B Selects.
“They’re BOTH champions and they will go down in the history books as champions.”
“The people on the outside saying that it doesn't count, they have a trophy… https://t.co/LB1boDUVnC pic.twitter.com/UltFC4fazM
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) August 1, 2023
That year, just like every other year, the Lakers had to face various obstacles on their road to victory — some new, and some old. By the end, they were the last team left standing after months of dominating their opponents.
Today, it might be easy to forget the condition of the bubble, but we should consider some of the sacrifices made by the players who participated that year.
Former Laker Says The Bubble Was A Test Of Heart
What gave the Lakers the edge in the end was their mental endurance. Where many other teams folded and gave up so they can return home, LA managed to keep their composure and never lost what made them special throughout the regular season.
“It wasn’t easier. I mean, it was easier if you loved basketball because there’s a lot of people that don’t love basketball and the bubble was a true test of that. You wanted to be locked up for three months, and play basketball for a championship, not a lot of people are gonna do that,” said Kyle Kuzma on the 2020 playoffs.
The bubble was certainly a weird time for the NBA and its fans, but the Lakers shouldn’t be condemned for stepping up when everyone else fell flat. At the end of the day, that title holds the same weight as all the others, and nobody can deny the Lakers earned every bit of it.
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