Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves recently shared his thoughts on the Lakers’ title in the 2019-20 season that came in the Orlando, Fla. bubble.
Reaves believes that Lakers superstar LeBron James receives too much hate, and he feels that people wouldn’t question the legitimacy of the title if James weren’t the won who won it.
“It’s not a Mickey Mouse ring,” Reaves said. “I don’t wanna say it’s the hardest. I think – I mean, everybody had an equal playing field. I think it’s the same as every other year. I just think if Bron doesn’t win it, then nobody says anything. Everybody hates Bron. Actually, everybody loves LeBron, but he gets so much hate.”
While the 2019-20 NBA season was unlike any other because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all of the playoff teams that season were forced to play their games in the Orlando, Fla. bubble, not just the Lakers.
As Reaves mentioned, each squad was faced with the same conditions, yet the Lakers dominated during that playoff run, needing just five games each to win in the first round, second round and Western Conference Finals.
James and company ran into the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, and they ended up winning that series in six games, allowing James to capture his fourth NBA title and fourth NBA Finals MVP award of his career.
While some NBA fans may not believe that the 2020 NBA Finals were as tough to win, the Lakers are still the rightful champions from that season.
James has gone through some tough paths to win the NBA Finals in his career, most notably knocking off the Golden State Warriors in the 2015-16 season. During that regular season, Golden State went 73-9, setting the record for the best regular-season mark in NBA history.
Not only that, but the Cleveland Cavaliers – James’ team at the time – fell behind 3-1 in the 2016 NBA Finals to Golden State. Yet, James rallied the Cavs back from the deficit to win the series in seven games.
Lakers fans have to love Reaves going to bat for his teammate, and hopefully, he and James can win a title together in the 2024-25 season.
James will turn 40 years old during the upcoming campaign, but he showed last season that he is still one of the best players in the league. He averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game while shooting 54.0 percent from the field and 41.0 percent from deep.
