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Revisiting Some of the Coldest Takes on 2020 NBA Champions Los Angeles Lakers

Published 10/13/2020, 1:37 AM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

The Lakers’ 2020 Championship run was nothing less than beautiful as the team won the championship after 10 long years. The dream could not have become a reality without the dynamic duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Right now, everyone is loading the Lakers with hearty congratulations and praise. However, almost a year ago, there was hardly anyone that believed in them. In fact, media and analysts gave some of the coldest takes on the purple and gold.

When Lonzo Ball was included in a trade package to bring Anthony Davis to Staples Center, LaVar Ball claimed that the franchise would never win a title.

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“Like, I said I guarantee … I’ll say it again: It will be the worst move the Lakers ever did in they life and they’ll never win another championship. Guarantee it. They’re going to regret it; I’m going to have fun with it. I told y’all it was crashing down. Now, it completely crashed, but at least my son is off the boat before the thing exploded.

“I gave ’em a chance. You can rewind it and go back, and I said, “You get the three Ball brothers, you going to survive this. You let ’em go … oh, it’s going to be a cold day in hell. Trust me on that.”

Ball’s claims seemed ridiculous even back then, but since L.A. is the 2020 NBA Champion, it holds no weight at all. Speaking of the AD trade, BigCheeseKIT labeled the trade as straight-up horrible and claimed the Lakers gave up too much.

Considering that, Davis averaged a phenomenal 27.7 points in the NBA Playoffs and is a champion. The trade worked out perfectly, at least for the purple and gold.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ championship drought is finally over!

USA Today via Reuters

LeBron James delivered on his promise to bring back a winning culture in LA. However, after missing the Playoffs last year, ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy suggested the Lakers should explore options to trade their superstar.

I think in the offseason, they need to rebuild this roster, right? And to me, it could be a trade for an Anthony Davis, or I think they need to explore trading LeBron for getting as much as they can… You’ve got to put everything on the table.”

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At the time, the Lakers were struggling to make the Playoffs. They were short-handed in the absence of Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball due to injuries. Moreover, LeBron James himself was on minute restrictions recovering from a groin injury.

Fast forward to this year, the Lakers are the champions, crushing each opponent. It is hard to ignore the fact that former NBA player Channing Frye believed that the Lakers had no answer for TrailBlazers’ Lillard and McCollum.

No disrespect to the Blazers, but the Lakers handed them a gentleman’s sweep by winning the series 4-1. Lakers cruised through the Western Conference and sent the Heat home in six games.

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The purple and gold will prepare to hang the championship banner #17 in the rafters. Quite the opposite result from what sports anchor Rob Parker believed, as he labeled the Lakers as “Championship Frauds.”

At the end of the day, the 2019-20 season ended with the Lakers defeating all odds. They are the team to dethrone in the upcoming season, and it won’t be an easy task.

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Written by:

Aikansh Chaudhary

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Aikansh Chaudhary is an NBA columnist for Essentially Sports. Previously, he helped rank various websites using the latest SEO techniques, and wrote over 2000 articles during his stint as a freelance writer. A die hard Lakers fan, Aikansh will forever uphold LeBron James as the GOAT.
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