'I Don’t Feel Like a Champion'- Anthony Davis on Lakers Title That Still Feels Incomplete
For most players, winning an NBA championship represents the ultimate validation. But for Anthony Davis, the 2020 title with the Los Angeles Lakers carries a different kind of weight. Achieved inside the unprecedented environment of the NBA Bubble, the championship checked every professional box yet left a personal void. Years later, Davis is opening up about why that moment, despite its significance, still feels incomplete.
- Krishna Sagar
- 4 min read
A championship is supposed to feel definitive. It is supposed to close the chapter. To answer every question. To remove doubt and replace it with certainty. For most players, it becomes the moment everything points toward.
The celebration. The parade. The connection with fans. The shared energy that transforms a title into something larger than the game itself. That is how it is meant to happen. That is how it has always happened.
But in 2020, everything changed. The NBA did not crown its champion in packed arenas. There were no roaring crowds. No travel. No shifting momentum driven by home court advantage. Instead, the league created a controlled environment at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, where the season could be completed safely during a global pandemic.
It worked. The games were played. The competition remained intense. And in the end, the Los Angeles Lakers emerged as champions. From a basketball standpoint, the goal was accomplished. But from a human standpoint, something was missing. And for Anthony Davis, that absence has never fully gone away.
1. The Moment That Meant Everything
At the time, it felt like the culmination of everything. Davis had joined the Lakers with a clear purpose. To win. To compete at the highest level. To prove that he could be the cornerstone of a championship team alongside LeBron James.In his first season, that goal became reality. “At that moment, I felt like I have accomplished everything,” Davis said. “Why did I come to LA? To win a championship. In my first year, I get it done.” The emotion was immediate. “I’m in a corner, sitting on a low bench, I’m crying. I’m just sitting there, just soaking it all in. Like, damn, this really happened. I’m really an NBA champion.” The scene had all the elements of celebration. Confetti fell. Champagne flowed. His family was there. The locker room was filled with joy. “You get the confetti, you get the champagne in the locker room, my dad was there. My family was there. My wife was there. It was a great time.” By every traditional measure, it was complete. And yet, it was not. The absence did not reveal itself immediately. It came later. After the games were over. After the team returned to Los Angeles. After the reality of what could not happen began to settle in.
2. The Question That Stayed
There would be no parade. No packed streets. No stage. No moment to stand in front of the city and share what the championship meant. “But we knew that we weren’t having a parade,” Davis said. “And that’s the one thing that I miss the most.” That realization changed how the experience felt. “Like, we couldn’t get the full experience of winning the championship when you get the parade. Fans get to come out, you are on the stage. You get to say a speech. You’re having fun. To this day, I think about that.” It was not about validation.It was about connection. And without that connection, something essential was left unresolved. Over time, that feeling turned into something deeper. A question. One that Davis admits still lingers. “Did I really win a championship?” It is not doubt in the traditional sense. Davis knows what he accomplished. He understands the difficulty of that run. He has even described it as one of the toughest championships ever, given the mental strain of isolation and the unique conditions inside the Bubble. But emotion does not always follow logic. “I know I’m a champion, but I don’t really feel like a champion. I want the real experience,” he said. “I never had the chance to experience that in a final situation.”
3. The Bubble Reality
The absence of fans created a different reality. No crowd noise. No shared energy. No external pressure that often defines the biggest moments in sports. “And for me, it was like, Man… Did I win? Did I not win? I know I’m listed as a champion but it’s like, I’m not sure.”
It is a rare kind of reflection. One that reveals how much the environment shapes the meaning of achievement. The 2020 season was unlike anything the NBA had seen. Players were isolated for months. Routines were disrupted. The mental toll became just as significant as the physical demands of the game.
In some ways, it made the championship harder.In other ways, it made it different.Without fans, the emotional peaks and valleys of the playoffs changed. The intensity remained, but the atmosphere shifted. For some players, that created clarity. For others, it created distance. Davis experienced both.
Now with the Washington Wizards, Anthony Davis finds himself in a very different situation. Acquired in February from the Mavericks, he has yet to play a single game for the franchise due to a left hand injury, with head coach Brian Keefe confirming that Davis will not return before the end of the 2025–26 season.
