Ikhlas Patel
It was July 7th when the NBA bubble had officially started. This would be a safe and COVID free area where the NBA players could play without fans and without fear of contracting the virus. Were players happy that fans couldn’t be allowed in the stadiums? No. They didn’t even want to play without fans. Lebron James from the Los Angeles Lakers added, “If I show up to an arena and there ain’t no fans in there, I ain’t playing. They can do what they want to do.”
Nobody knew what to do. Nobody had expected this.
Soon enough, they started turning ballroom halls into basketball courts, and everything was underway. Before I go on, I must acknowledge what they did prior to the start of the Bucks vs Mavericks game. Both teams had warmup shirts reading “Black Lives Matter”. During the national anthem, both teams kneeled and held each other’s hands in a way to show unity and indicate that there is no room for racism. Many other NBA teams did this as well, and they made a unified effort to speak out on this issue.. Throughout the bubble, this issue began to have a bigger meaning. In game 5 of the Bucks vs Magic series, something extraordinary happened. The Bucks didn’t come out for the tipoff, leaving many people questioning why. However, after a few minutes, many found out. Jacob Blake had died the day before, and the Bucks boycotted the game in order to push against police brutality. Even though they didn’t play the game the statement received was huge. Watching from home I didn’t expect this at all. I thought it was a great way for the Bucks to handle the situation. After the Bucks boycotted many other NBA games got postponed as well as MLB, WNBA, MLS games as well as all other big sports organizations.
Now you may be thinking, what are the NBA players going to do when they are not playing games? Well, they have a lot to do. The bubble was located at Walt Disney World, just outside Orlando, Florida. That itself should give them plenty to do. However, the NBA took it upon themselves to add some more perks. Due to lockdown and quarantine, many people had not been to libraries, barber shops, and more. The NBA had created a whole barbershop fit with 6 barbers and 3 stylists. They also had a gaming setup with NBA 2k, arcades, ping pong. And of course, everything was socially distanced ,and it was mandatory to have masks on.
There were many journalists there in order to cover all this new and unusual circumstances. However, a few players like Javale McGee and Matisse Thybulle actually vlogged the entire bubble in order for us at home to see what it is like. We got to see all the COVID screening, the conversations about racism, how they ate their food, the activities, the rooms, and so much more . I had a lot of fun sitting at home and feeling like I was part of the action.. It let me see what the NBA grind truly is, as well as the different practices and treatments they have to do in order to be prepared for the upcoming games.
For many fans and the players, it was an experience that we will never forget.