After three months of COVID tests, Matisse Thybulle vlogs, subpar golf and most importantly, basketball games, the NBA bubble has finished. The Los Angeles Lakers won their 17th NBA championship, tying the Boston Celtics, and concluding another chapter of NBA history.
Throughout the bubble experience, we’ve witnessed some truly spectacular moments. From Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray’s 50 point duels, to Luka Doncic’s heroics and that OG Anunoby game-winner, we’ve been spoiled with some amazing, high level basketball. But perhaps the greatest feat was the fact that not a single positive COVID test occurred throughout the duration of the bubble. This extraordinary accomplishment was only made possible by the sacrifices of every person involved. Their selflessness allowed us to witness three months worth of basketball which we otherwise would not have gotten.
Before I wax lyrical about the Lakers, I’d like to acknowledge and give credit to the tremendous Miami Heat team they faced in the Finals. If they hadn’t been facing my favourite team, I no doubt would have been rooting for them. In my opinion, they were everything we thought the Clippers would be this year: a gritty, well coached squad that played hard on both ends, had in-game adjustments falling out of their ears and a ferocious, never-say-die attitude.
Jimmy Butler was criticised for destroying the locker room chemistry of his previous teams but excluding the fact that he sells coffee for $20 a cup, it turns out he is far from the problem. In actual fact, he’s cemented himself as a bonafide winner who will literally do anything he can to drag his team over the line. His performances in Games 3 and 5 have shown that he is now undoubtedly a top 10 player in the association. Even though he struggled in the Finals, whether that be due to injury or a difficult matchup against Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo is one of the best two-way players in the league and will no doubt continue to be a force for years to come. As a fan of shooting and the Michigan basketball program, Duncan Robinson is one of my favourite players in the league. He may also have the best underdog story we’ve ever heard (although if we continue to hear about his journey from Division 3 Williams College to the NBA Finals every time he touches the ball, it might get annoying real soon). In the dictionary, the definition of “entertainment” should just be replaced with a picture of Tyler Herro. His 37-point outing against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals is a sign of things to come, as he carved up the Boston defence in every way imaginable. Seasoned veteran Andre Iguodala is a serial winner and a prominent voice who is beloved and respected by all. Backup big man Meyers Leonard played minimal minutes but his honest discussion on why he stands during the national anthem demonstrated that he is a considerate human being who wants to use his platform to impact others. His willingness to listen and learn from his friends and teammates is something that we should all look to emulate. Goran Dragic is yet another fierce competitor, who deserves all the respect in the world for working tirelessly to get back onto the floor for Game 6 after tearing his plantar fascia. The only Heat player I’m not a fan of is Jae Crowder. I won’t swear, but let’s just say I really, really don’t like Jae Crowder.
With the cap flexibility they have, in addition to an infectious culture and multiple promising young pieces, the Heat are in a position to succeed for the better part of the next decade and I have no doubt that they will.
And now, onto the champs.
Despite the current discourse surrounding this team, it must be stated that at the start of the year the Lakers were far from an outright championship favourite. The front office was in apparent turmoil, following Magic Johnson’s resignation from his post as President of Basketball Operations, which left the unproven Rob Pelinka in charge (whom some believed didn’t know how the NBA salary cap worked). Soon after, Frank Vogel was hired to be the Head Coach, yet the ink had barely dried before jokes that he’d be fired and replaced by Assistant Coach Jason Kidd began to surface.
LeBron was coming off a groin injury which decimated the previous season, where the team had missed out on the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year. Chatter that he was no longer the best player in the world grew steadily louder by the day. Anthony Davis injected new life into the squad, but his trade left the team without any depth. Rondo, Caldwell-Pope and Dwight were ‘washed’, while Caruso was nothing more than a meme. The general consensus was that the team desperately needed a third star and when their pursuit of Kawhi Leonard fell short, the title of championship favourite fell onto the shoulders of the Clippers and Bucks.
While I was pretty confident in the dynamic duo of James and Davis, I’m not going to sit here and say that I had an unwavering belief in the Lakers’ role players. Watching Rondo dribble the ball aimlessly for the entirety of the shot clock during the regular season and seeing KCP miss fast-break layups for two years had brought about a decent level of scepticism in me. However, throughout the year (and in the past two months in Rondo’s case), I’m happy to say they have all proved me wrong and it’s led to this particular Lakers team being my all-time favourite one to watch.
For me, it all starts on the defensive end. Give me a clip of a perfect Lakers defensive possession over that of the 2014 Spurs’ ball movement any day of the week. From day one, Frank Vogel reinforced the point that defence would be this team’s calling card and they never looked back. The hustle and effort that guys like Caruso, KCP and Danny Green gave on every possession, along with Davis’ unparalleled ability to blow up any play with his length and athleticism, made Lakers stops look like poetry in motion. Matchups against the likes of Damian Lillard, James Harden and Jamal Murray meant that the Lakers guards had to be switched on every single play, while the Finals saw them chasing sharpshooters Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro around screens for 48 minutes.
At the rim, Anthony Davis was monumental. You can tell who the best rim protectors in the league are by how they affect finishers mentally. Play after play, guys like Tyler Herro and Jimmy Butler would misfire at close range or pass out of layup opportunities if they spotted Davis lurking around in a help position. Davis’ ability to switch out on the perimeter and guard quicker players with his long strides was instrumental in how the Lakers were able to defend opponents when they went small, without losing out on a rim protector. As cliche as the saying is, the Lakers are the living proof that “defence wins championships”.
On the other end, it was the LeBron and AD show. In the playoffs, it becomes incredibly clear that in order to win, you need smart players who can read the defence and pick them apart to either create for others or for themselves. And there is no one better in the league at that than LeBron James. He was the engine behind almost everything on that end of the floor with the Lakers, in the end averaging close to a 27-point triple double on 56% shooting during the playoffs. There were games where I’d leave thinking LeBron hadn’t asserted himself enough, yet once I checked the box score, I’d see the inevitable 28-10-8 statline. The standards to which we hold “The King” are simply other-worldly; we expect him to contribute in multiple ways on every single play, every night for an entire season and playoffs and more often than not, he doesn’t disappoint.
Over the course of the postseason, Davis evolved into a supreme shot-maker. It seemed that possession after possession, he’d bail out the Lakers offence with tough turnaround jumpers late in the shot clock. It became a foregone conclusion that regardless of the defender, location on the floor or difficulty of the shot, that ball was going into the hoop. In the Finals, Davis shot a remarkable 30-32 from the free throw line, missing his only two shots in the Game 6 clincher. He made a myriad of memorable shots, from the game-winner against the Denver Nuggets, which saved the Lakers from a Game 2 loss they probably deserved, to the dagger in Game 4 of the Finals to clinch a 3-1 series lead. While the “Brow” might not have won Finals MVP, he’s certainly quashed any doubt that he wasn’t capable of making big time shots on the biggest of stages.
I can’t finish this piece without mentioning the severely underappreciated Lakers supporting cast. All year they were told they weren’t good enough, but when it came down to it, they were instrumental in the team’s success. Playoff Rondo proved to be more than a mirage, as the oft-criticised point guard commanded the offence whenever LeBron took a seat, once again showing the value of high basketball-IQ in tense playoff situations. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit clutch shots, Dwight Howard swallowed rebounds and turned them into putback dunks and both Markieff Morris and Kyle Kuzma were prone to the occasional 16-point outburst. Despite being bombarded with criticism for his poor shooting, Danny Green always did his part on the defensive end to make up for his offensive shortcomings. Following his missed shot at the end of Game 5 during the Finals, he and his fiancée received death threats (which have absolutely no part in the game), but he responded like a true professional, with a confident performance to help clinch the title.
Every single player on the floor fought for rebounds and hustled for loose balls, especially Alex Caruso, who can only be described as a real-life Energizer bunny. He probably earned the Lakers an extra five possessions every game, just by rebounding on the offensive glass, drawing charges and making interceptions. It was those constant energy plays that turned him from a G-League standout to a Finals game starter and a beloved fan favourite. As the postseason progressed, big men JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard were able to put their egos aside and accept significantly reduced roles, a true testament to their character and willingness to put the team ahead of themselves.
It was clear from day one of training camp that every single player on the roster was committed to the end goal and willing to give everything to achieve it. You can’t ask for anything more from a team. Watching this squad over the past year has brought me so much joy and I am incredibly grateful for every second.
A decade ago, I leapt around the family living room like I’d just consumed an unholy amount of sugar as Kobe Bryant and the 2010 Los Angeles Lakers were crowned NBA champions. While I didn’t replicate those same energetic feats this time around, I can truthfully say every moment was just as sweet. If the current state of the world has taught us anything, it’s that we don’t know what is around the corner and that nothing should ever be taken for granted. So for my fellow Lakers fans around the globe, enjoy this moment. We don’t know when the next one will come.
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