The Los Angeles Lakers won their most recent championship five years ago in 2020, but the 2020 NBA Playoffs weren’t conventional by any stretch. That year’s playoffs were held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, and the setup was often referred to as the Orlando, Fla. bubble.
Because of the different nature of the 2020 NBA Playoffs, some folks have talked down on the Lakers’ 2020 title over the years and put an asterisk next to that championship. Even former Lakers champion Ron Harper, who may be best known for winning championships alongside NBA icon Michael Jordan on the Chicago Bulls, has belittled the significance of the 2020 championship.
In a post on X in which he responded to former Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s assertion that the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) debate would be over if the Lakers had kept their 2020 title team intact, Harper threw shade at the team’s 2020 championship and called it a “bubble gum ring.”
What 2020 title the bubble gum ring?
— Ron Harper (@HARPER04_5) May 28, 2025
One of the biggest differences between the 2020 NBA Playoffs and other playoffs in recent memory is that teams lacked a real home-court advantage, as all games were played at a neutral site with no fans in attendance.
However, folks should be able to recognize that the 2020 NBA Playoffs were a different beast as well as that the Lakers were still the deserving champions that year. After all, much of the 2019-20 regular season was played before the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, and overall, the Lakers went 52-19 in the regular season and finished with the Western Conference’s top record.
After the Lakers put together a dominant regular season, they then made quick work of all but one of their four opponents in the 2020 NBA Playoffs. The Miami Heat were the only team to force a Game 6 against Los Angeles during its championship run, as L.A. beat the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets in five games each in the opening three rounds.
The Lakers will try to win their second title of the decade in the year 2026, though they are led by a new dynamic duo now. Luka Doncic is now LeBron James’ co-star as opposed to Anthony Davis.