Before the 2019-20 NBA season was put on hiatus amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Los Angeles Lakers were 5.5 games ahead of the second-seeded L.A. Clippers in the Western Conference and had a healthy LeBron James leading the way. 

Forward Jared Dudley believes this season was the team's "best chance" to win a championship with the current core, which has been on his mind since play was halted.

He talked about the notion with Michael Lee of The Athletic:

"Even next year, there is no better time than us being five games up in this, everybody healthy. That's one thing we've been good at, our health has been phenomenal this year. So you have that, with our defense. Yeah, you could be more talented, but just because you have more talent doesn't mean you're better. So, for us, I'm not going to say this is it. Even if we win the championship next year, that's not saying this would not have been our best chance. This would have been our best chance to win, even if you go into the future."

While the Lakers have been near the top of the standings throughout the season, they looked the part of title contenders in two of their final three games before play was suspended with wins over the Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks.

Milwaukee has the league's best record and the reigning MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo, while the Clippers have reigning NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. If there are two players who can go toe-to-toe with LeBron in a playoff series, it is them.

Dudley revealed those games only bolstered his thoughts that the Purple and Gold were ready for the challenges the postseason brings:

"Especially after us just beating the Clippers and Milwaukee the way we did. The adjustment we made thinking come playoff time, most likely, we're going to have to get through these teams. And this is how it is. We saw the adjustments we made, winning at home to Milwaukee and having the success we had defensively against them and beating the Clippers at their arena, even though we might have majority fans, the way we did it. LeBron guarding both Kawhi and Giannis. That probably shocked them, like, 'He's taking the challenge.' And us going to the locker room like, we know it’s just one regular season game, but it meant more. It set a tone mentally, because the Clippers beat us twice. They're thinking, they beat us three times, 'Oh, they got us.' I don't care what anyone says, regular season games, they're all not the same."

Unfortunately for the Lakers, they have been unable to build on the momentum they created during those games with play on hold after the season was suspended on March 11.

Dudley said "it's looking more bleak by the day" that the 2019-20 season can continue, which echoes a report from ESPN's Brian Windhorst on Friday.

Windhorst reported "the NBA is angling to set up a deal that enables them to shut the season down" during discussions with the players union. While it is still leaving open the possibility that play can resume, it has also focused much of its talks on how it will financially respond to the season's cancellation.

Windhorst also reported the Chinese government restricted the restart of its professional sports leagues, including basketball, which was notable because "China's attempt to restart sports are being watched closely by leagues across the world."

It appears as if the Lakers may not get the chance to deliver on that golden opportunity.