People say the Lakers had an easy run to the finals in 2020 yet they faced the top teams and stomped them convincingly while the Nuggets get a lot of praise as one of the GOAT teams and playoff runs of all time even though they faced 3 teams that were seeded 7 or below with the only team above that being a measly 4th seed. Does this have to do with Jokic being more likeable and relatable than LeBron or something?
I’ve heard people bring up Jokic as having an all-time playoff run but I haven’t heard anyone talk about the Nuggets as a team having an all-time run or being an all-time team.
As always, I expect there’ll be a lot of hindsight bias to this. People will pick and choose what to care about based on what happens next.
I’m sure IF the Lakers had stayed healthy and IF they’d repeated or come close in 2021, and hadn’t done the Russ trade and gone through the debacle of the 2022 season, people would see the 2020 title as less flukey.
Same will happen with Denver. If they win another title in the 2-3 years with this core, or at least consistently make deep runs and reach the Finals again, nobody will bring up the seeds of their opponents in 2023.
If for whatever reason, they kinda fall apart and never make reach the Finals again, people will see it as a flukey title and bring up their opponent’s seeding more. It is what it is.