The Lakers disbanded the championship team in 2020, and now the Lakers have been unable to win the championship

On May 21, 2020, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat with a total score of 4-2, winning the 17th championship trophy in team history. However, after winning the championship, the Lakers management made a puzzling decision - to disband the championship team. Now that five years have passed, the Lakers have not returned to the finals stage, and have even been eliminated early in the playoffs many times. Looking back on this journey, we have to admit that disbanding the 2020 championship lineup is the biggest failure that the Lakers have been unable to reach the peak in recent years.

###Construction and chemistry of the championship lineup

The Lakers in 2020 are a perfect combination of balanced offense and defense, experience and vitality. The team is centered on James and Davis, paired with experienced veterans such as Danny Green, Kentavius ​​Caldwell-Pope, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, as well as young players such as Alex Caruso and Kyle Kuzma. The defensive efficiency of this lineup ranks among the top three in the league and shows strong resilience in the playoffs. Rondo's organizational ability, Howard's rebounding and defense, and Green's 3D attributes perfectly fill the shortcomings of the Double Stars. More importantly, the team has excellent chemistry, and the players perform their own duties and are willing to sacrifice personal data for victory. After the management's short-sighted decision

won the championship, the Lakers' management began a series of confusing operations. They let Rondo, Howard and Greene go, and trade Dennis Schroeder and Montrez Harrell. This adjustment seems to have improved offensive firepower, but seriously damaged the defensive system and locker room atmosphere. Schroeder is incompatible with James, and Harrell's defensive loopholes are infinitely amplified in the playoffs. In the first round of the 2021 playoffs, the Lakers were eliminated by the Suns and the defending champion was eliminated early.

In the following seasons, the Lakers continued to "demolite the east wall and repair the west wall." In the 2021 offseason, they traded Kuzma, Pope and Harrell for Russell Westbrook, trying to form the "Big Three". However, the combination of Westbrook and James and Mei failed completely, and the team almost missed the playoffs. Although Westbrook was later sent away through a trade to exchange for players such as D'Angelo Russell, the team has never been able to reproduce the overall nature of 2020.

###The unstable chain reaction of lineups

Frequent lineup changes have led to the Lakers' long-term lack of stable rotation and tactical system. The success of the Lakers in 2020 lies in the role players' clear positioning. In the following years, there has always been chaos in the Lakers' team of "who should hold the ball" and "who should defend". For example, in the 2023 Western Conference Finals, the Lakers were swept by the Nuggets, exposing the problems of weak outside defense and insufficient substitute firepower - this is the consequence of letting Pope, Caruso and others go.

In addition, overdrawing future draft picks is also the price to disband the championship team. In order to make up for the wrong signing, the Lakers had to send out multiple first-round picks, resulting in a lack of chips for reconstruction. In contrast, in the 2020 lineup, the Lakers almost used "zero cost" to build a championship team, but now they are in a vicious cycle of "making up the more they make up, the weaker they get".

### Compared with other teams' long-termism

, the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors are in sharp contrast to the Lakers. After winning the championship in 2023, the Nuggets retained the core framework of Jokic, Murray and Gordon, and successfully defended their title in 2024; the Warriors regained the championship in 2022 with the stability of the "Kuzhu Tang" combination. The success of these teams proves that the continuity of the championship team is crucial.

The Lakers management's mistake is to pursue "star flavor" too much and ignore functionality. After 2020, they were superstitious about the "Big Three" model, but forgot that basketball is a sport of five people. Players such as Schroeder, Westbrook, and Russell have good personal abilities, but they cannot seamlessly connect with the James-Brown system like Rondo and Green.

###The dilemma of the road to reconstruction

Today's Lakers are in a dilemma: James is over 40 years old, and Davis is frequently injured. The team cannot compete for the championship immediately, and it is difficult to completely rebuild. If the core lineup of 2020 was retained, the Lakers would have had the opportunity to establish a dynasty. For example, leaving Caruso and Pope behind can maintain the outside defense, Rondo's leadership can relieve James' pressure, and Howard's basket deterrence is still a scarce resource for the league.

In the 2024-25 season, the Lakers stopped in the Western Conference semi-finals again, and they seemed unable to do so in the face of the younger Thunder and the Nuggets. Fans can't help but miss the united and tough Lakers in 2020 - that may be the best championship window that was ruined by the management.

###Conclusion

The Lakers' struggles in recent years are rooted in the rash decision in the summer of 2020. The disbandment of the champion team not only dismantled the perfect chemical reaction, but also caused a series of subsequent mistakes. Basketball history has repeatedly proved that successful teams require stability, while Lakers management has chosen the most adventurous path. Nowadays, they can only pay the price for their short-sightedness back then. Perhaps, only when the Lakers re-understand the true meaning of "the team is greater than the stars" can the Purple and Gold Legion reappear.