The 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers team holds a special place in the franchises’ history due to the mental taxing situations that presented themselves that year. And of of the underrated factors of that championship team was the veteran experience and physicality provided by Dwight Howard after he was brought in just before the season.
With the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the untimely passing of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant taking place within weeks of each other, the team bonded through those challenging times and united to win a ring in the Orlando bubble.
However, despite the success of that team with Howard playing a big part, general manager Rob Pelinka did not keep them and decided to make changes in the offseason. The Lakers have not been able to recapture that same success since, leaving many to wonder if Pelinka made the right call.
After the Lakers were eliminated in the postseason in the first round this year, Howard took to social media to give his opinion that the 2020 team could have kept winning championships had they stayed together:
They should’ve never split that team up … we would’ve had 3 in a row ? like my son would say “ On Skibidi”! ? ya saying talk about it on stream…what platform should I stream on?
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) April 30, 2024
It’s interesting proposition given by Howard, but given the age of that roster, it is hard to imagine that they would still be effective in today’s game. Pace and the 3-point shot are continuing to see an uptick and that 2020 team was a slower, bruising team.
But since forming new roster constructions around LeBron James and Anthony Davis, things have not worked out in terms of replicating the success of that championship team. That iteration of the Lakers finished 52-19 and maintained sole possession of the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. As the James and Davis era is nearing the end, it will be intriguing to see if L.A. can cash in on similar success next season.
Dwight Howard can start Rolls Royce with 2020 championship ring
Before the 2019-20 season, the Lakers took a chance on signing Howard, who was out of the league and did not have a good reputation at the time. Following the fallout of Demarcus Cousins suffering a season-ending injury, Howard ultimately played a huge role in winning a championship wearing the purple and gold.
Following the celebration of the 17th title, the big man was emotional about getting a chance to win it all and disproved a ton of stereotypes put onto him. Not many people can say they won a championship, so Howard added the feature of starting his Rolls Royce with his 2020 ring.
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