Getty Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat defends LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers found an unlikely defender from their critics who are dismissive of their 2020 NBA title run in the Orlando Bubble.
Miami Heat’s two-time All-Star center Bam Adebayo came to the Lakers’ defense despite losing to them in six grueling games.
“That was the hardest championship to win, in my opinion,” Adebayo said on the December 26 episode of “The OGs” podcast with former teammate Udonis Haslem and ex-Heat player Mike Miller. “15-deep plus coaches, staff, whatever you need like training staff. Other than that, it’s you and your thoughts in one room, boxed in.”
“It felt like [we were] gang-affiliated when we were in the bubble. The Lakers got on purple and gold, we got on black. The Bucks got on their green like nobody was walking by themselves. … We ain’t speaking to nobody. It was like we were walking mad at everybody.”
NBA Bubble’s Mental Battle
While the physical rigors of the travel in a home-and-away format and the absence of a heckling home crowd made it look easier to win, the mental anguish of the players made it tougher to win.
The fight turned from a physical into a battle of mental toughness and fortitude.
Surviving the 93 days of insulation from the outside world at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement without their families became the biggest obstacle.
In the clincher, James delivered a triple-double (28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists) to lead the Lakers to their 17th league championship in franchise history and first, since 2010, in the post-Kobe era.
James won the Finals MVP as he and Anthony Davis became the first teammates in NBA history to both average 25 points and shoot 50% from the field in the same postseason.
Adebayo, who missed two games in the series with a shoulder injury, wound up averaging 15.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
Lakers in Trouble After NBA Bubble
The Lakers have yet to make it back to the NBA Finals since their Bubble championship. Their front office made one mistake after another which led to their fall from the top.
First, they dismantled James and Davis’ supporting cast. Letting Alex Caruso walk away for nothing in the 2021 free agency turned out to be their biggest blunder. Then came the ill-advised Russell Westbrook trade that further depleted their depth. Frank Vogel, their championship coach, became a casualty as a result of their series of disastrous moves.
After undoing the Westbrook mistake last season, the Lakers made it to the Western Conference Finals with rookie coach Darvin Ham only to be swept by eventual champion Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers followed up their last season turnaround with the In-Season Tournament title run in Las Vegas this season. But they have not found much success since then.
Ham shook up their starting lineup, replacing the ineffective D’Angelo Russell with Jarred Vanderbilt with mixed results.
Then they lost point guard Gabe Vincent, their top free agent acquisition, to 6-8 weeks to a significant knee injury.
With James turning 39 this week, the Lakers’ window for Banner 18, which would break up a stalemate with their old rival Boston Celtics, is shrinking by the day.