Phil Jackson’s legendary 40-20 rule has long been a reliable indicator of championship legitimacy in the NBA. The formula is simple: teams that reach 40 wins before suffering 20 losses have ...

The championship series was played in the NBA bubble in Orlando due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Howard, friction between him and James stemmed from a game during the 2019-20 regular season.

James went on deep runs with coaches in their first year with the Lakers twice before, winning a title with Frank Vogel and going to the conference finals with Darvin Ham. But those teams had ...