Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) smiles while holding the MVP and Finals trophy after game six of the 2020 NBA Finals at AdventHealth Arena. The Los Angeles Lakers won 106-93 to win the series. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA says the most recent Los Angeles Lakers championship came in 2020, but the Boston Celtics are hellbent on attaching an asterisk to it.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis led the Lakers to the 2020 NBA championship inside the Walt Disney World bubble at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the Celtics celebrated their 2024 NBA championship earlier this week, NBC Sports Boston displayed a list of franchises with the most titles in league history. The Celtics are at the top of that list with 18 titles, while the Lakers are second with 17. NBC Sports Boston, however, made sure to attach a footnote of the Lakers 17 that read, “Includes Disney World title.

Thursday night, the Celtics broadcast discounted the Lakers’ most recent title again on their pregame show, when analyst Brian Scalabrine was tasked with breaking down the game’s “key matchup” of Jayson Tatum vs Kyle Kuzma. Kuzma, who now plays for the Washington Wizards, was on the Lakers in 2020.


“Tatum is the face of our franchise,” Scalabrine said. “And Kuzma is the face of their franchise. But the difference is one guy’s got a championship, All-NBA.”

The All-NBA team part is right. But are we sure Kuzma doesn’t have the same number of NBA championships as Tatum?

“Kuzma does have a championship,” play-by-play voice Drew Carter noted. “But as our pregame show pointed out the other night, it was a Disney World championship as they said.”

The Celtics have more titles than the Lakers even when we count the bubble championship. And looking at both teams as they are currently, Boston is in line to add another title before the Lakers will, so do they really need to be picking on the 2020 championship?

Many have attempted to minimize the Disney World championship because it was different, although the Lakers can argue the constraints of operating in the COVID bubble made it a harder title to win. But don’t try telling that to the Celtics and their TV broadcast.

[NBC Sports Boston]

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com