Another day, another player who played in the bubble telling everyone how impressive that title was.
Time and time again, whenever players who actually took part in the bubble sit down and talk about it, they repeatedly tell everyone how difficult it was to win that title. It’s not even restricted to Lakers from that team, who would obviously make a point to defend their ring.
This time, it was Danny Green who sat down and talked about the team’s entire 2019-20 season in a video for Bleacher Report.
It was a great video that included lots of anecdotes about the season, but it also included him presenting the case for that ring being the toughest of his career.
“It was by far the hardest championship that I had to achieve. To make that adjustment playing through COVID, having your family and friends not really there, not being able to even celebrate it properly. We went to the same restaurant that we go to every day and celebrated as a team but, after that, no real parade. So, it was just different. In the bubble, a lot of different things were going on where the walls start closing in on you mentally and emotionally. It was a hard-fought win. Also the physical task of every other day playing, which wears on you. By far the hardest because, again, mentally taxing.”
To add further credence to Green’s case, he’s someone who has won multiple rings in multiple places, so this is a statement that holds some weight. He also contended that, even if the bubble — and a global pandemic — didn’t exist, the Lakers would have won the title, calling it an “iconic, legendary team.”
Game 5 game-winning shot
Green didn’t shy away from the elephant in the room, either, when talking about the Finals. Prior to the Lakers coming out victorious in Game 6 against the Heat, Green had a shot to end the series and win a title in Game 5.
The shot missed and Green and the Lakers had to regroup. Green talked about the shot and the moment in the interview. The biggest takeaway was that he didn’t realize how much time was left when he took the shot, admitting he rushed it as a result.
Even after that missed opportunity, he said the vibe around the team was that they would bounce back and win in Game 6. Fortunately, that turned out to be the case.
Anthony Davis’ game-winner vs. Denver
To get to the Finals, the Lakers had to go through the Nuggets. That memorable series included one of the long-lasting highlights of Anthony Davis’ career.
In Game 2 with the Lakers down one, AD knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Instead of being tied in the series 1-1, the Lakers took a 2-0 lead and used that to go on and win the series.
Green talked about that shot and what it did for both the Lakers and Nuggets.
“With that game-winner, it gave us the momentum and confidence and everything we needed and also kind of put them in a — like that’s a devastating play to experience on the other side. When you lose by a game-winner, it’s really hard to bounce back from it. That was the play that, pretty much, I think, won us the championship. No disrespect to Miami. Miami was a very good team but I think this was the hardest overall team that we faced during that playoff run.”
The whole interview is worth a watch, if for no other reason than to take a trip down memory lane.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
