Frank Vogel isn’t having any more talk about the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2020 championship being fake or easy. The former Lakers head coach strongly defended that title, saying his team was the best from start to finish, bubble or not. As debate continues to swirl years later over whether that win deserves an asterisk, Vogel made it clear he believes the Lakers earned every bit of it.
Frank Vogel Talks About About the Lakers’ 2020 Bubble Title
Vogel, who coached the Lakers to their 17th championship in 2020, went all blitz while speaking with The Athletic.
“I don’t really subscribe to the fact that teams that lost get to say, ‘We didn’t want to be there,'” Vogel said. “And the thing that sticks out to me, for all the people that want to asterisk this thing – we were the No. 1 team from day one. We entered the bubble as the No. 1 team in the league, the No. 1 seed. We were gonna win that thing, whether it was in the bubble or whether it was in Staples Center. We were winning that thing. We had that belief.”
His take was simple: the Lakers were built to win no matter the setting. That 2019–20 roster, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, went 52–19 in the regular season and held the Western Conference’s best record.
Vogel’s system focused on defense and chemistry, something that carried into the NBA’s Orlando bubble. With key veterans like Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope stepping up, the Lakers stayed locked in through the unusual circumstances.
They went on to defeat the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals and the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, earning the franchise’s 17th title, tying the Boston Celtics for the most in league history.
Why the Lakers’ Bubble Title Still Sparks Debate
Even though the championship banner hangs proudly at Crypto.com Arena, the 2020 win remains one of the most debated titles in NBA history.
Critics argue that the controlled environment inside the Disney World bubble, with no travel, no fans, and no home-court advantage, made it easier for teams to stay consistent. Some even mockingly refer to it as the “Mickey Mouse ring.”
Philadelphia 76ers executive Daryl Morey reignited the controversy earlier this year, saying “no one around the NBA believes it’s a genuine championship,” and that it should carry an asterisk forever.
However, many players, including James and Howard, have long argued the opposite. They say the bubble was actually harder because of the isolation, constant pressure, and lack of family or crowd support. Howard even said critics only question it “because it was the Lakers and because LeBron won it.”
Vogel’s recent comments echo that same sentiment. To him, there’s nothing tainted about a team that dominated from day one, stayed focused through global chaos, and handled every challenge in its path.
And the NBA agrees: the league officially recognizes the Lakers as the 2020 champions with no qualifiers attached.
