Lakers Fans Jealously Claim Celtics Won The Easiest Championship Ever Because Of Injuries

Lakers fans are calling the Celtics' title run in 2024 the easiest in NBA history, due to all the injuries.

6 Min Read

Credit: Fadeaway World

The Boston Celtics are your 2024 NBA champions and Los Angeles Lakers fans aren’t taking that too well. The Celtics now have one more championship than their eternal rivals (18 to 17) and a Lakers fan took to X to discredit this title run by claiming it might have been the easiest ever.

“Celtics EASIEST championship ever? 

– Heat without Jimmy Butler & Rozier

– Cavs without Donovan Mitchell & Jarrett Allen

– Pacers without Haliburton & they quit

– Mavs with PJ Washington & Kleber”

The post went viral and NBA fans had some interesting reactions to it.

One stated the Celtics should get no credit.

A fan stated LeBron James would have swept every team the Celtics played in this run.

One stated these Celtics are the most fraudulent champions since the 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers.

A fan stated an asterisk is needed next to this championship.

One pushed back by stating that these same Lakers fans celebrate the “Bubble” championship.

It can certainly be termed ironic for Lakers fans to make such claims. Let’s have a look at the points that this user brought up.


First Round: Jimmy Butler And Terry Rozier Were Out For The Heat

The Celtics faced the Miami Heat in the first round, in a rematch of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat had won that matchup in seven games but were brushed aside in five this time around.

A big reason for that was Jimmy Butler missing the series due to a sprained right MCL, which he suffered in the Play-In Tournament against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Heat were also without Terry Rozier, who missed the series because of a neck sprain. 


Eastern Conference Semifinals: Donovan Mitchell Missed 2 Games And Jarrett Allen Was Out 

The Celtics then faced the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Cavaliers had seen Jarrett Allen suffer a right rib contusion in the first round against the Orlando Magic and he wasn’t able to recover in time to play any part in the series against the Celtics.

To make matters worse, Donovan Mitchell then went down with a strained left calf and couldn’t play after Game 3. With their star guard out, the Cavaliers didn’t stand a chance and lost 4-1.


Conference Finals: Tyrese Haliburton Missed 2 Games

The Conference Finals saw the Celtics take on the Indiana Pacers, who had also benefited from some key players on their opponents suffering injuries. Unfortunately for the Pacers, it was now their turn to be struck by the injury bug.

Tyrese Haliburton suffered a hamstring injury in Game 2 and missed the rest of the series. The Pacers battled hard without their superstar point guard but ended up getting swept.


NBA Finals: PJ And Kleber Are Good Players

As for the NBA Finals, that fan ruthlessly pointed to P.J. Washington and Maxi Kleber being on the Dallas Mavericks’ roster as a reason why it was easy for the Celtics. The two certainly struggled in the series.

Washington averaged 10.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 0.6 blocks per game against the Celtics. He only shot 40.6% from the field and 27.3% from beyond the arc.

Kleber, meanwhile, put up 1.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.2 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game. He shot a woeful 25.0% from the field and 16.7% from three.

They are still good players, though, with Washington, in particular, playing a key role in the Mavericks getting to the Finals. It just so happened that they played their worst basketball at the worst possible time.

On the injury front, Luka Doncic was clearly not fully healthy, but he was still out there and played at a fairly high level. Would the outcome have been different had Doncic not had to play through injuries? We’ll never know.

While it is evident that the Celtics did get some breaks along the way, I am not going to discredit their run. If you want to, you could point to every title-winning team getting lucky in some way or the other.

The Denver Nuggets last year lucked out by facing the Minnesota Timberwolves without Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid. The year before that, the Golden State Warriors faced a Nuggets team without Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray. Even Ja Morant had gone down when they faced the Memphis Grizzlies in the Conference Semifinals. Title-winning teams just almost always end up getting lucky at some point along the way.

Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.

Newsletter

Stay up to date with our newsletter on the latest news, trends, ranking lists, and evergreen articles

Follow on Google News

Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We appreciate your support.

Share This Article
Follow:
Gautam Varier is a staff writer and columnist for Fadeaway World from Mumbai, India. He graduated from Symbiosis International University with a Master of Business specializing in Sports Management in 2020. This educational achievement enables Gautam to apply sophisticated analytical techniques to his incisive coverage of basketball, blending business acumen with sports knowledge.Before joining Fadeaway World in 2022, Gautam honed his journalistic skills at Sportskeeda and SportsKPI, where he covered a range of sports topics with an emphasis on basketball. His passion for the sport was ignited after witnessing the high-octane offense of the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns. Among the Suns, Shawn Marion stood out to Gautam as an all-time underrated NBA player. Marion’s versatility as a defender and his rebounding prowess, despite being just 6’7”, impressed Gautam immensely. He admired Marion’s finishing ability at the rim and his shooting, despite an unconventional jump shot, believing that Marion’s skill set would have been even more appreciated in today’s NBA.This transformative experience not only deepened his love for basketball but also shaped his approach to sports writing, enabling him to connect with readers through vivid storytelling and insightful analysis.
Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *