LeBron James: 2020 NBA Playoffs were the 'purest form of hoops'
LeBron James: 2020 NBA Playoffs were the 'purest form of hoops'
The Los Angeles Lakers' 2020 NBA championship has been derided by many people as not a legitimate championship because of the fact that it was won inside of the Walt Disney World Resort bubble during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to critics and cynics, since there were no fans and no travel, it cannot count as a legitimate championship.
However, that postseason was a big challenge in other ways, mainly because of the stringent safety restrictions that were imposed on everyone who participated. It amounted to up to three months of full and total focus on playoff basketball.
LeBron James, who won his fourth ring that year, expanded on the type of focus that was required during that time during a recent episode of his "Mind the Game" podcast.
"I agree with what a lot of people say that it's the purest form of hoops," James said. "It was strictly basketball. We all have the ability to do whatever we want in life. We've made a bunch of money, we have all the access. That's gone in the bubble. You can't just say, 'oh, I'm about to go to a restaurant or I'm about to do this.' You can't do none of that. Everything in the bubble was strictly about basketball. And obviously we were there talking about a lot of off-the-court things that were going on, the social injustice and police brutality and all that stuff, rightfully so. But when the basketball portion was the focus, that's all it was. Of all my championships I've won, that level of focus, how long can you maintain your focus in order to get the job done? Because you have all the reasons if you want to get out of focus because you're so accustomed to a certain lifestyle that you're like, 'to hell with this, I don't wanna do this, why am I here? I don't want to be a part of this, I can't get a certain meal, I can't do this, I can't see my family, I can't lock in…' And you can very easily get out of why you're there."
The 2019-20 season was initially suspended in March once the pandemic started to hit critical mass. When the bubble was announced, many were skeptical that it would work and that the coronavirus would be prevented from spreading inside of it.
But thanks to those stringent restrictions, which included restrictions on family members getting it, it was a huge success.
In particular, it was a huge success for the Lakers, who continued to prove they were the best team in basketball that year by bringing home the world championship.
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