In the 23 NBA seasons that he has played so far, LeBron James has won four championships. While he is now with the Philadelphia 76ers after signing a two-year, $8 million contract, there is one part of his 2020 title run with the Los Angeles Lakers that he still wishes he could have experienced.

The Lakers never got to celebrate their championship with a traditional parade because of COVID-19 restrictions. Six years later, James still thinks about what that celebration could have looked like.

“That bothers me 1 to 10. 20 like just to be able to celebrate with the Laker faithful,” he recently said on Mind the Game podcast. “I don’t know what the route would have been. I’m thinking go down Olympic just like all the way down Olympic and then end up downtown right by Staple Center. They want to call it Crypto and sh*t, I call it Staple Center to me. It would have been super duper dope, man. But yeah, we did that. We did that. And that banner is up there. That banner is in that arena forever along with the other ones that been able to go up in the history of the Lakers Franchise.”

LeBron James says he still thinks about not being able to do the parade after winning the championship in 2020:

“That bothers me 1 to 10. 20 like just to be able to celebrate with the Laker faithful. I don’t know what the route would have been. I’m thinking go down Olympic just… pic.twitter.com/poxzft6L1j

— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) September 25, 2026

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The 2019-20 Lakers won the championship inside the NBA's Orlando bubble after the league suspended the season for several months during the pandemic. The team eventually returned to action in a closed environment at Walt Disney World, where the Lakers beat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.

The title also came during a difficult year for the Lakers organization following the death of Kobe Bryant in January 2020.
James has often pointed to the unique challenges of that postseason when discussing the championship. Players spent months away from their families and played without fans in the arena.

The Lakers did eventually raise the 2020 championship banner at Crypto.com Arena.