For half a decade now online trolls and critics have torn the Lakers’ 2020 Championship as a fake, “Mickey Mouse” NBA title.
Daryl Morey is also not so sure of its legitimacy.
In an interview with athletics, the 76ers-president of basketball operations said that there are many doubters who do not think that it was a “real championship” with the bizarre circumstances because of the COVID-19 Pandemie.
“If the rockets had won the title, I would have already celebrated it as legitimate, knowing that the enormous effort and resilience required,” Morey told the outlet. “Yet everyone I speak to in the competition is private, agree that it doesn’t really last as a real championship.”
Morey told The Outlet that the championship may never be viewed as at the same level as a regular NBA title.
“Perhaps the lasting legacy of the NBA bubble is that the NBA should be proud of its leadership at both the beginning and the end of the pandemic, although the champion will forever be characterized by an Asterisk.”
Without fans in the stands and no journeys in the bubble of Orlando, LeBron James and Anthony Davis led the Lakers to their 17th title in the franchise history. Los Angeles defeated the heat in six games in the final.
Some have stated that the veteran Lakers had an advantage over other teams in the bubble with the aging James and injury-sensitive Davis.
The championship was especially important for James, who was named NBA Finals MVP on its way to his fourth title.
Morey’s Rockets lost to the Lakers in the second round in the bubble in a season that eventually became his last in Houston.
The old NBA director would resign from the rockets in October 2020 before he would take the job in Philadelphia less than a month later.
Morey’s teams made the play -offs in 14 of the 18 seasons, but he still has to get that elusive NBA championship.
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