The Lakers title ends an atypical season so different from all that it deserves a lot of footnotes The exercise began in October 2019 with a tweet from the CEO of the Houston Rockets related to political protests in Hong Kong that sparked retaliation from China where television games were canceled until the last of the finals On January 1 David Stern the New York attorney who as commissioner from 1984 to 2014.
Multiplied the league’s income and maximized its image thanks to stars like Magic Johnson Larry Bird and Michael Jordan passed away And on the 26th of that same month there was a helicopter accident in which he perished at the age of 41Kobe Bryant the player who competed for 20 seasons with the Lakers until he retired in 2016 turned into an icon of world sport.
The pandemic changed everything The competition was suspended on March 11 after Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus in the moments leading up to the game between Utah and Oklahoma City.
The title has been decided in the bubble in which 22 teams have been installed since the first week of July at the ESPN sports complex at Disney World Orlando The other eight could not finish the regular season because of the conditions established by the NBA to be able to play in a bubble that cost about 150 million dollars.
The 22 teams that competed since July 31 played about 71 matches far from the usual 82 and in a regime of concentration and isolation without spectators in the three pavilions that were used There was no audience any trips.
For the first time in the history of the competition, there was a boycott that of the Milwaukee Bucks when they did not appear in the game against the Orlando Magic on August 26 in protest of cases of police brutality and racism The NBA suspended games for three days.
The Lakers with the resignation of Avery Bradley who resigned due to his daughter’s lung disease reached the bubble on July 9 and have remained in it for 95 days There were other players who resigned for different reasons to compete such as as Ariza Portland Bertans Washington and Wilson Chandler Brooklyn.
It was a bit difficult for me says LeBron James “We entered the unknown Once I got here I said to myself OK this is my mission I want to win the title and thats why Im here It was difficult to focus on other teams and what other players were feeling Neither did I try I wanted to focus my energy in the right space.
In the last few days I have thought about how successful it has been and to congratulate Adam Silver current commissioner and the NBA Michele Roberts and Chris Paul and everyone at the NBPA players union for making it all work It is a success that there were no positives We have been able to compete and show our rejection of social injustice and police brutality.
The MVP of the final revealed his personal situation during the three months in the bubble “I have never been without my family for so long I have missed the days when my daughter was in daycare and I have missed my sons 16th birthday But I send a big greeting to the late Steve Jobs because without him without his vision of the future those calls via videoconference would have been impossible.
The season ends in the middle of October just when the next one was supposed to start The uncertainty remains The pandemic continues and the franchises want to see the public on the courts next season to avoid further increasing losses Commissioner Adam Silver has slipped that the start of the course could be delayed until January The problem of dates would be evident because the NBA figures could not attend the Tokyo Games that must be played from July 23 to August 8.