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The Ringer NBA Show

How Will the NBA Adapt to the Lakers’ Successful Style of Play? | The Mismatch

The Ringer NBA Show

The Ringer

Sports

4.29.4K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2020

⏱️ 69 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Verno and KOC in a post-Finals glow discuss why there’s no asterisk on this championship (0:32), the future of this Lakers team and how the rest of the league might adapt to compete with them (10:09), and Rajon Rondo’s reascension in the playoffs (41:10). Then they give their two cents on the reignited LeBron-Jordan GOAT debate (48:09). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to the mismatch. Today we're going to talk about the NBA Finals, the Lakers winning the championship and why there is no asterisk on this championship.

0:10.0

In addition to that, we are going to talk about LeBron James, Ray John Rhondo, the LeBron Jordan goat debate and much more. Now on to the show.

0:31.0

Welcome to the Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Varnett, join me. He does every Tuesday from the Ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, a K-Kevino bomber, Kevin O'Connor, Kevin O'Climor, Kevin O'Conflick, Kevin O'Candyland, Kevin Oblazerian, Kevin O'Connor.

0:45.0

Burnow, we have a champion. We do have an NBA champion and our NBA season has concluded after I believe I read 355 days from when it first began. It truly was the most unbelievable experience being an NBA fan for almost a full years time before the completion of the season.

1:11.0

You know, guys that were rookies at the beginning of all of this a year ago didn't seem like rookies by the time it all ended. And, you know, in the end, I think we thought going into the bubble, how are people going to view this? What is going to be.

1:33.0

What are people's opinions going to be regarding a champion that is crowned under these circumstances? And I would say at least on my behalf and I think yours and I think everybody else in the free world. I have not seen one person.

1:53.0

poke any kind of hole in this championship. And the Lakers are the deserving champions and I do think that when you take a step back and you realize that this season was able to be completed as it was and the playoffs were able to happen as they were.

2:12.0

I mean, I don't think there's any like there'll be a footnote in history, but I don't think even in the moment any of us think any less of this championship. Do you not at all, not at all. If anything, you think a little bit more of it.

2:29.0

I mean, I think that's really important to consider the fact that you know other players around the league have remarked about this three months in one place in isolation a lot of guys away from family and loved ones.

2:43.0

I mean, it takes a lot of, you know, mental strength and mental focus, focus in order to continue striving towards the task at hand there.

2:54.0

You know, you know, kudos to all the teams that had deep playoff runs, you know, really the final four were in there for over two months and Lakers and heat around three months.

3:04.0

It's remarkable that there's actually been a completion to the season. It's remarkable that the NBA, you know, the partners, the Disney workers, you know, everybody who works behind the scenes and all the players, all the teams all bought in together and made this whole thing happen. It's incredible.

3:21.0

Even though the champion isn't something that will have an aspect on it, not sure it and like I'm going to turn the TV off if I ever hear somebody suggest that.

3:31.0

It still is going to be have a special place, you know, in our heart, considering everything this year in the fact that they actually made it work.

3:39.0

And I think that one of the reasons that you haven't heard anybody poke holes in this is because from the time that this began in the bubble, you and I both expressed, hey, what are guys going to look like they've been back home, they haven't been able to go to gyms.

4:00.0

Who knows what kind of shape all these guys are going to be in when they do come back a there were no a gree just oh my goodness this guy let himself go during the quarantine.

4:13.0

They're really weren't there. And in fact, it went the opposite. You saw guys in many cases get in the best shape of their lives. And I don't know if it's because of the environment.

4:26.0

I don't know if it's because of the lack of distractions, but the quality of basketball just as a basketball fan was unbelievable like the entire time. And I think that's I think if it would have been where you saw.

4:42.0

Oh yeah, well, this would have been different if the season kept on playing out. And there wasn't a break in the season. I don't know surely some things would have been different, but because the basketball we were watching was at such an incredibly high level.

5:00.0

And because guys obviously made a severe commitment to staying in great shape and staying in basketball shape during the quarantine. I think that's an I think that's another factor in it because the quality of basketball was unbelievable.

5:17.0

Truly, like I mean these playoffs, these playoffs were great. I'm not sure if it would have been better. If they're traveling, if they're with the distractions, if they've got all the fans in the crowd, I'm not sure that the quality of basketball actually would have been as good, which is a crazy thing to think about.

5:37.0

It's very possible. It's very possible. The quality would have been worse had you know, it'd been a normal season. But like I think the reason why nobody's really talking about stuff like that about like ask bricks and like you know, blah blah blah. This on that crap is because you know, for for these teams, for these teams to play at this high level and to compete at this high level. I think anybody watching with their own two eyes could see the level of competition. There was never, you know, before the games restarted.

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