The Los Angeles Lakers are champions once again. 

No. 17 with LeBron James, and Anthony Davis leading the way. If those two stay healthy and the others players keep embracing their roles, they could very well repeat. 

This title will have an asterisk by it, but one the Lakers can wear proudly because no other NBA champion has endured a season like this.

Season stoppage. COVID-19 pandemic.

Social injustice. NBA restart. Bubble life. 

They’re the last team standing. 

Kobe Bryant would’ve been proud of the way they won it, too.

FYI: I picked the Lakers in six games. Not earthshattering. Just saying. 

How next season will unfold remains an unknown.

Looks like it’ll start in January, but will fans be allowed to watch in arenas or will the NBA return to a bubble environment?

With the way the COVID-19 pandemic has altered NFL and college football, the NBA might stick to what it knows works. However the league proceeds, the Lakers will enter the 2020-21 season as the defending NBA champions and favorite to repeat.

The challengers will be strong and numerous. 

The Dallas Mavericks have the next great superstar in Luka Doncic. The Portland Trail Blazers will return healthy with Damian Lillard leading the way.

The Utah Jazz aren’t going anywhere and the Golden State Warriors, with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson coming back full strength, will reestablish themselves as a force.

That’s just in the West.

The Toronto Raptors are always going to contend with their team ball. The Philadelphia 76ers might have the right coach in Doc Rivers to get them playing up to their potential.

And the Miami Heat have their leader in Jimmy Butler. They overachieved to reach the Finals and will have a renewed hunger to finish the job next season.

However, these five teams will give the Lakers their greatest challenge in 2020-21.

1. Los Angeles Clippers

Yes, they blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets when the whole world wanted to see them face the Lakers in the conference finals.

That collapse ultimately got Rivers fired.

The talent is there. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are two of the game’s best, but came up small when it mattered most.

Those two should take that Game 7 meltdown so personal, they should be on a mission to win a championship.

2. Denver Nuggets

Their dynamic duo, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, is young and special. 

They have a great supporting cast. Young. Talented. Michael Porter Jr. is a star waiting to erupt. More importantly, they have the character, resolve and grit to be champions.

You don’t come back from 3-1 deficits twice in the same playoff year without those vital intangibles. 

Denver is on the traditional path right now. The Nuggets went from reaching the conference semifinals in 2018-19 to the conference finals this season.

The next step is the NBA Finals. Got to go through the Lakers and Clippers, but the Nuggets are capable of getting that done.

3. Brooklyn Nets

Kevin Durant has been stewing for an entire year and change, seeing so many other players shine after he was an injury away from winning three straight titles and three straight Finals MVP awards.

If he comes back even close to the player he was before the Achilles injury, the Nets are going to be scary good next season. Pairing up with Kyrie Irving should be special.

Caris LeVert was a star in the bubble. He’ll be the third or fourth option on this team.

Steve Nash is the wild card.

Never been a head coach. The Nets will make the playoffs, but how he balances what he wants to do and what his players do best will be key to determining how far they go.

4. Boston Celtics

They may have one too many similar players, but may also have perhaps the most talent in the NBA. 

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart and Gordon Hayward are as good as it gets as a collection of talent. The Celtics may be a knockdown shooter away from taking that final step to reach the finals, but who is their leader?

Who is their Jimmy Butler or LeBron James? Brown and Tatum could be, and Walker, being a point guard, should be.

Smart probably is that guy, but he’s not one of their top three players.

Time for the Celtics to have a long conversation to define roles or they’ll continue to have all the talent in the world without a championship.

5. Milwaukee Bucks

Hard to pick them over Miami, but having the two-time reigning MVP should mean something, right?

Giannis Antetokounmpo is a great player, tremendous talent, but what’s scary is he can be so much better. With two MVPs, his sole focus should be winning a championship and improving his weaknesses to make that happen.

Post-up game. Core strength on defense. Three-point shooting. 

If Milwaukee is on the same page, it has to demand more from the others and Antetokounmpo. Like the Clippers, the Bucks should be be on a mission to get to the Finals after failing to do so the last two years despite having the league’s best record.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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