NBA Exec Takes Major Shot at Lakers, Calls 2020 Championship Not Genuine

The Los Angeles Lakers have had a rocky 2020 decade to say the least. The past few seasons for the Lakers have been a mix of good and bad; however, the decade started with a bang.

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The Lakers were among the best teams in the league, if not the best, during the 2019-20 season. Los Angeles, led by superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, were title contenders through and through. They were among the top teams in the league and certainly in the Western Conference, holding the No. 1 seed for the entire season.

However, the world was put on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That caused the entire world to come to a halt, including the NBA season. Eventually, the NBA did its best efforts to continue the season, and the Lakers, as they proved to be all season, were the best team of that unforgettable 2019-20 season.

While that was the case, many throughout the past five seasons have done their best to dismiss the Lakers' title. Five years later, that is still the case somehow, and this time it was Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey who added more gasoline to the dying fire.

In an interview with The Athletic, Morey threw a massive shot at the Lakers' 2020 championship.

"Had the Rockets won the title, I absolutely would have celebrated it as legitimate, knowing the immense effort and resilience required," Morey said. "Yet, everyone I speak to around the league privately agrees that it doesn't truly hold up as a genuine championship. Perhaps the lasting legacy of the NBA bubble is that the NBA should be proud of its leadership at both the beginning and end of the pandemic, even though the champion will forever be marked by an asterisk."

Sixers President Daryl Morey kept it real about the Lakers' 2020 championship in the bubble 👀

(via The Athletic) pic.twitter.com/Q7JYdtVJsn
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 30, 2025

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The Lakers went through as difficult a season as anyone. The pandemic disrupted their rhythm and upended everyday life, just like it did for the rest of the world.

But on top of that, they were hit with a devastating blow — the heartbreaking loss of Lakers and NBA icon Kobe Bryant, who tragically passed away in late January 2020.

The Lakers, the city of Los Angeles, and the entire world went through an overwhelming stretch of loss in just a few months.

The NBA, meanwhile, was doing everything it could to bring the game back — a return that fans everywhere were desperately yearning for.

Morey is just the latest of many to do their best to discount the Lakers' latest title.

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