LeBron James strengthened his GOAT case after winning the 2020 NBA Championship, his fourth ring in the league. But since then, the ‘Bubble Championship’ has often been downplayed by many analysts, players, and fans to be a fluke Championship. Rashard McCants became the latest addition to the list.
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He took to his X account to poke fun at the Lakers superstar and his accomplishments with the decorated LA franchise. McCants uploaded a picture featuring Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron, along side their contributions for the Lakers.
The top flank of the image shows the five NBA championships Magic won for the Lakers during the 80s. Just below is Bryant and his five championships with the Lakers along with the years they were secured in.
At the bottom of the image, McCants ends up taunting LeBron’s bubble championship with the Lakers back in 2020. The NBA ball of the Larry O’Brien trophy is replaced with a ‘Mickey Mouse’ face in the image, which is a reference to the bubble being held in Orlando near the Disney World.
The creator of the image even went a step further in terms of being petty as they added a graphic of Hubba Bubba bubble tape beside the trophy. McCants shared the image with the caption, “Ay mannnn this not funny at all! Do not laugh at this!”
Ay mannnn this not funny at all! Do not laugh at this! https://t.co/5Lt88TsUvI
— Rashad McCants (@SoundbiteKing) August 26, 2024
McCants sharing the disrespectful image wasn’t received well by fans. They highlighted the former NBA star’s NBA record against LBJ to respond to him.
Over the past couple of years, Rashad has had polarizing and contradicting takes on the four-time NBA champion. One of his recent takes had McCants comparing Luka Doncic to the Lakers forward, giving Doncic the edge in talent.
However, McCants has also stated that even though Michael Jordan, Bryant, and James are all prolific scorers, the King makes it look effortless out of the three. But this take of his isn’t going to impress many LBJ fans.
However, was the Bubble Championship really an anomaly?
Bron defended his toughest challenge in the league
No other championship win in NBA history has been criticized and undermined as much as the 2020 Lakers Bubble title. Often disregarded as a real title, James has had to defend his last championship win on multiple occasions.
Even though several NBA legends and analysts have tried to discredit the 2020 championship because it didn’t have home and away crowds, LBJ has often claimed how the 2020 NBA title was the toughest challenge of his career.
In a 2020 article by ESPN, James stated, “It’s probably been the most challenging thing I’ve ever done as far as a professional, as far as committing to something and actually making it through.”
Regardless of how hard anyone tries to undermine the Orlando Bubble, there’s no denying the fact that it was a difficult campaign in isolation amidst an ongoing pandemic. At any rate, all teams played in the same atmosphere. So it’s not like the Lakers had an advantage.