Is Complex’s Ranking Of 2020 Lakers Among Recent Champs Disrespectful?
The Denver Nuggets were crowned the 2023 NBA Champions on Monday and seeing that they pretty much easy work of every team that came their way, the conversation has now turned to: How does their title compare to the ones we've seen in recent years? And your Los Angeles Lakers seemingly caught a stray in the midst of this
Before we dive into a specific list that downplayed the Lakers' own 2020 victory, I think it's important to note that the Nuggets did the job that needed to be done and no asterisk should be placed next to their title. Plenty of Twitter users complained about how their matchup against the Miami Heat was boring and that Denver was not challenged all postseason. However, that just highlights their dominance and consistency even more in my opinion.
Alright... let's take a look what Complex had to say about the championship squads of the past decade and how they stack up next to one another.
A Path With "Few Challenges"
Complex opted to place the 2017 Golden State Warriors and 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers in the number one and number two spots respectively and there isn't much arguing one can make against that. For different reasons, both of those squads are solidified in the history books and nobody will ever forget those title seasons.
But scroll a little further up on that article (or a lot) and you'll find a 2020 Lakers squad highlighted by LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and a vast array of shooting, defense, and big men come in at number six. Even though many may assume that the reason for this is because of the common belief that the bubble was not real basketball but the Complex article did not use that as part of their explanation.
Instead, they chose to pinpoint how LA, just like the 2023 Nuggets, took care of business fast in the first three rounds and then still took out Miami for the title.
"We can talk about the circumstances of the bubble and all that but we can't lie about the dominance of the Lakers. They were the best team entering the pandemic and they finished the season as the best team. While most fans wanted to see a matchup with the Clippers, you can't blame the Lakers for their rivals choking in the postseason. The Lakers weren't really challenged in their title run, winning every series in the West 4-1 and eventually taking the Miami Heat down in six games."
(Via Complex)
Just like I mentioned earlier with Denver, the Lakers' dominance against their conference en route to their title should be more of a highlight rather than a stain on their case here. They faced what many were referring to as the "deadliest eighth seed ever" in the Portland Trailblazers with a red-hot Damian Lillard and shut them down.
Next up, the Houston Rockets took full advantage of the new NBA and surrounded Russell Westbrook and James Harden with three other shooters on the court. This was no problem for the Lakers as they stuck to their own games and only dropped game one.
Finally, next came a younger Denver Nuggets squad led by Jamal Murray who was coming off of a first round series against the Utah Jazz where he averaged about 32 points and six assists and LA beat them in five.
So yes, this Lakers squad may not have been as iconic as the first two on the list but six is no place for them. The challenges were all laid out in front of them during the bubble and they were all super talented, the Lakers just had something beyond special in 2020.
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