The Lakers were winning anyways.
Danny Green won three championships during his NBA career, taking home rings with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014, the Toronto Raptors in 2019, and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
The last of those titles is the one people still argue about.
The Lakers won it inside the Orlando bubble during the pandemic season, and critics have spent the past six years treating it like an asterisk because there was no travel and there were no road crowds.
Green has heard every version of that take, and during a recent appearance on Bleacher Report's "The Run" series, he pushed back on all of it.
"It was by far the hardest championship that I had to achieve," Green said. "That was an iconic, legendary team. I think we would have won regardless if it was the bubble or not."
A Roster Built To Win Anywhere
The talent on that team backs him up.
LeBron James won Finals MVP at age 35 while Anthony Davis, in his first season with the franchise, was arguably the best two-way big man in basketball.
Around those two stars, the front office stacked the roster with proven veterans like Green, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso, JaVale McGee, and Kyle Kuzma.
That group went 52-19 in the regular season and dropped just five games across four playoff rounds, beating Portland, Houston, Denver, and Miami without ever facing elimination.
The Bubble Was Harder Than People Remember
The case against the title usually starts and ends with the lack of travel, but the bubble took away far more than it gave.
Players spent months isolated at Disney World without families, routines, or home crowds, all while carrying the emotional weight of Kobe Bryant's death earlier that year.
Green has also credited James' leadership for holding the locker room together through that stretch, as the star organized team dinners to keep everyone connected away from the court.
A roster with the best player in the world, a dominant big man, and that much veteran depth was going to be a problem in any environment.
Where Those Lakers Are Now
James just wrapped up his 23rd season, averaging 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds across 60 games for a Los Angeles team that went 53-29 before getting swept by Oklahoma City in the second round.
He is now an unrestricted free agent, and the debate over whether he deserves a maximum contract has dominated the early offseason.
Davis has had a rougher road since that championship core was broken up, bouncing from Dallas to Washington while injuries limited him to 20 games this season.
With James weighing his options in free agency, there is a real chance the 2020 title ends up being his last one in purple and gold.
Six years later, the players who lived through the bubble still defend that ring harder than anyone outside of it ever could.
