Former Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy seemingly expressed his agreement with Dwight Howard’s assertion that the 2019-20 Lakers could have been the start of a dynasty if it weren’t for general manager Rob Pelinka.
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The 2019-20 Lakers were a dominant team from start to finish that season. The regular season didn’t span 82 games like normal due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Los Angeles managed to win 52 of its 71 contests and ended up with the best record in the Western Conference and the third-best record in the league.
Then, in the 2020 NBA Playoffs — which were held in the Orlando, Fla. bubble — the Lakers breezed through most of their competition. Los Angeles won three of its four playoff series — against the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets — in five games each.
It took six games for Los Angeles to beat the Miami Heat in the championship series, but one of Miami’s two victories came after the Lakers already held a convincing 3-1 series lead. L.A. ultimately won the 2020 NBA title to give the franchise its 17th championship in team history.
Unfortunately, the Lakers came up well short of repeating as NBA champions the following season after the team failed to retain multiple valuable players from the title team.
For one, Howard joined the Philadelphia 76ers after he won the first title of his NBA career with the Lakers, and JaVale McGee was traded the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In addition, Rajon Rondo spent the 2020-21 season with the Los Angeles Clippers and Atlanta Hawks after he averaged 8.9 points and 6.6 assists per contest for the Lakers in the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
Meanwhile, Danny Green — a capable 3-point shooter and defender — was also traded by L.A. after he played in every one of the Lakers’ 21 playoff games in 2020.
Without those types of players to complement the likes of Anthony Davis and LeBron James, the Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns — who went on to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals — in six games in the first round in 2021.
Today, L.A. is still looking for its first NBA title since 2020.
