NBA analyst Zach Lowe has had enough of the skepticism surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2020 championship.
In a passionate defense delivered during a recent segment, Lowe pushed back against critics who continue to question the legitimacy of the Lakers’ title won inside the COVID-19 bubble in Orlando.
“If any other team and any other superstar had won that title, there would be none of this crap,” Lowe said. “Every team went there under the same circumstances… One team won. And yet we continue to hear this… I think it’s totally legit. It’s different. That kind of makes it cool to me. It’s a real title. Stop disparaging it, everybody, it’s a real title”.
The 2020 NBA season was unlike any other. After a months-long pause due to the pandemic, the league resumed play in a quarantined environment at Disney World. No fans. No home-court advantage. No travel. Just basketball, isolation, and mental endurance.
The Lakers, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, navigated the bubble with dominance, ultimately defeating the Miami Heat in six games to claim their 17th championship. Yet, despite the achievement, the title has often been labeled with an asterisk, dismissed by some as less legitimate due to the unusual circumstances.
Lowe believes the criticism is less about the format and more about who won.
“If it had been the Nuggets or the Raptors or the Blazers, people would be celebrating it as a gritty, historic run,” he implied.
But because it was LeBron, already polarizing, and the Lakers, a franchise with a legacy of dominance, the narrative shifted toward discrediting.
His comments echo a broader frustration among analysts and fans who see the bubble title as one of the most mentally demanding championships in NBA history. Players were isolated from family, subjected to strict protocols, and forced to adapt to a surreal competitive environment.
The bubble title has become a flashpoint in discussions about LeBron’s legacy. LeBron, then 35, led the Lakers through uncertainty and emerged with his fourth ring.
“It’s different. That kind of makes it cool to me,” Lowe added.
