One year after starting their journey for a title in October of 2019, the Los Angeles Lakers finished the job in October of 2020, defeating the Miami Heat in six games. This is the Lakers' 17th title in franchise history. LeBron James won his 4th NBA championship and 4th NBA Finals MVP while Anthony Davis won his first NBA championship. It was a strange season given the time off due to COVID-19 and the return to the bubble in Orlando, but as they always say, a win is a win and the Lakers found a way to get it done despite all the adversity.
There will be some who will put a bit of an asterisk next to this championship, but I find that to be unfair. Especially since the Lakers came in as the top seed in the conference. The way this season was set up being in a bubble and played on a neutral court favored lower seeded teams and put higher seeded teams who earned home court advantage at a bit of a disadvantage. To win this title despite losing out on home court advantage is just another feather this Lakers team can put in their cap.
More broadly speaking, this Lakers team will be remembered as the team that brought a title back to Los Angeles after a decade. The Lakers went through some dark times after their 16th championship in 2010. Giving Kobe Bryant an excessive contract, a lack of real identity or future, and tragically, the death of Bryant and his daughter earlier this year. To the credit of James, he came to Los Angeles firmly believing he could win a title and believed that Anthony Davis, a guy who has had injury issues over the years, could be his sidekick.
In addition to James and Davis, this Lakers team truly embodied what it means to be a team. Head coach Frank Vogel did a really nice job of bringing everyone together and getting everyone to buy in. Rajon Rondo, Kyle Kuzma, Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Dwight Howard, and others played their roles and made sound contributions. Unlike other teams that won due to superior star play, the Lakers won by their depth and unselfishness. This was the most likable Lakers team I've seen win a title for this very reason.
Ultimately, there's a lot to like about this year's Lakers team. LeBron James showed why he's an all-time great, Anthony Davis proved he could deliver in the NBA Finals, and everyone came together to get the job done. It'll be interesting to see if this team can defend their title and bring an 18th banner to the Staples Center.
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