Skip to main content
Sunday, November 15, 2026Nov 15
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

Asterisk on the 2020 NBA title? Coaches, players say not a chance

AP photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack / Players for the Atlanta Hawks, left, and Orlando Magic huddle on the court during an officials' review on Dec. 30, 2019, in Orlando, Fla. The NBA suspended its 2019-20 season on March 11 due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
AP photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack / Players for the Atlanta Hawks, left, and Orlando Magic huddle on the court during an officials' review on Dec. 30, 2019, in Orlando, Fla. The NBA suspended its 2019-20 season on March 11 due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

By TIM REYNOLDS / AP Basketball Writer 5 min read

This year’s NBA champion, if one is crowned, will have emerged as the ultimate winner from a 2019-20 season that lasted more than a full year from start to finish.

A season in which political unrest between the NBA and China, the deaths of David Stern and Kobe Bryant, racial issues across the nation and, if that wasn’t enough, a pandemic.

It is a season like none other.

So, an asterisk-bearing champion? Not a chance.

To the teams in the NBA, this championship might be the toughest one ever earned. It will come after more than three months of living in a quasi-bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida, after an entire postseason is played without fans, with most if not all that time spent away from friends and family. And only one of the 22 teams headed to Disney will be able to say it was absolutely worth the trouble.