Having been victorious in the Orlando bubble, LeBron James can safely say that the title came with very different challenges from his previous one.
The Los Angeles Lakers superstar appeared this week on the “Road Trippin'” podcast with former Cleveland Cavaliers teammates Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye. During the episode, James said that the Golden State Warriors might have thrashed the Cavs in 2016 in a bubble setting.
“Just imagine in ’16,” said James. “We’re down 3-1 [in the series]. If we’re down 3-1 in ’16, and we’re not going back to Cleveland? We’re just playing another game in the bubble? Golden State may beat us by 100.”
Recall that in 2016, the Cavaliers won Game 5 in Golden State, returned to Cleveland to win Game 6 and went back to Golden State to take Game 7 and the title. James has also stated that he likes the adversity of playing on the road and feeding off the hostility of the away crowd.
The Orlando bubble was certainly a unique experience, forcing teams to fight playoff battles with no crowd, no travel and no homecourt advantage. James was also vocal about the struggles of staying sane in the bubble, so it is safe to say that he is probably especially proud of the 2020 championship.
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