NBA: 8 bubble games will have an outsized impact on year-end awards
By Dan Knitzer
NBA’s bubble games will have a huge impact on the year-end awards
While it can’t be ensured the NBA season does, in fact, resume in Orlando – let alone finish, as planned – the hopes of that two and a half week regular season bubble environment feels very distant from the first five months of the season – largely because there will have been a nearly five-month break.
With the current NBA’s plan in place, there will be 22 teams heading towards the bubble in Orlando; they will play eight “seeding games” and there will be the potential for a play-in tournament for the final playoffs spot in each conference.
The playoffs will be the traditional best-of-seven series.
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The impact on the NBA’s awards
With each bubble team having played between 63 and 67 games, these upcoming eight games will constitute just over 10 percent of the season for each team, but their weight will be heavily more than that when deciding year-end awards.
If a player or coach in contention for one of the year-end award finishes 8-0 in the bubble, that will likely put him over the hump for said award.
If, for example, the Lakers go 8-0 and the Bucks 6-2, LeBron James will likely steal MVP for the entire season, even though the Bucks will still finish the year with the better record and their win differential – currently fifth-best all-time – will likely far outweigh that of the Lakers. (For reaching this historic point differential without a true second superstar, Giannis earned my imaginary MVP vote).
The NBA’s Coach of the Year field is large, and without a clear favorite. Any coach in this field who helms an 8-0 or 7-1 bubble team will likely rocket to the top unless his peers in contention match that mark.
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Excellence will be on full display in the bubble, but so will rust – particularly from the also-rans who have no real hope of either making the playoffs or escaping their first-round matchups.