The NBA’s ‘bubble season’ was a massive success
The NBA’s bubble was a massive success
NBA Players playing in an isolated area, away from family and friends and the outside world had never been done before and that led many people to question if it would work. Adam Silver and the NBA have always been an innovative league that isn’t afraid to try new things. Although all the odds looked to be stacked against the NBA when they went to the ESPN Wide World of Sports to finish the 2019-20 season, they were able to pull it off with no positive COVID-19 tests for almost three months.
The NBA Bubble season, which for some was a new season altogether, also showed how players and teams can lose their rhythm and never get it back. While teams like the Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Phoenix Suns came to the bubble with no pressure and performed in that way, other teams like the New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, and LA Clippers struggled to find their rhythm at the beginning of the bubble.
While the Lakers would find their rhythm, ultimately winning the 2020 NBA championship, the Clippers, Bucks, Pelicans, and Grizzlies would not find the same rhythm they had earlier in the season before the shutdown.
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Injuries and players having to leave the bubble also was a big factor in team success, Jaren Jackson Jr., the promising player for the Grizzlies, had to leave the bubble with an injury while they were fighting for a playoff spot. Zion Williamson, the top pick in the draft for the Pelicans had to leave the bubble and when he got back he struggled to get into a rhythm and he was put on a minute restriction while his team tried to get into a playoff spot.
The Clippers would lose Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell, Lou Williams at different points in the bubble which caused all three of those players not to play up to their usual standards in the playoffs. For the Blazers, the bubble gave them a chance to get healthy. Heading into the playoffs, the Blazers got Zach Collins, Jusuf Nurkic, a slimmed-down Carmelo Anthony, and a fresh Damian Lillard who missed the all-star game due to injury a little over a month before the shutdown.
Stars emerged during the bubble such as T.J. Warren of the Indiana Pacers, who averaged 31 points per game during the seeding games. Everyone saw what former No. 1 high school player in the nation Michael Porter Jr. could do when he averaged 22 points per game in the seeding games and Devin Booker finally got to show the world what he could do, leading the Suns to an 8-0 record while averaging 30.5 points per game in the bubble.
Luka Doncic elevated his game in the bubble averaging a near triple-double; 30 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 9.7 assists per contest. Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic elevated their games for a Denver Nuggets team most thought would lose in the first round of the playoffs. Not only did the Nuggets get out of the first round, they got all the way to the Western Conference Finals with Murray averaging 26.5 points, 6.6 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game while Jokic averaged 24.4 points, 5.7 assists, and 9.8 rebounds per game in the playoffs.
In the end the teams with the most concentration that didn’t need their home courts to cheer them on would have the most success. The Miami Heat looked like they could have played basketball on a blacktop or on a dirt court. They didn’t care where the arena was, fans or no fans, they didn’t miss a beat.
The Lakers, who had a veteran team, didn’t need fans, where the Clippers might have been able to win Game 7 at the Staples Center with the help of their fan base cheering them on. Playing on a neutral site made for exciting playoff games, like the NCAA Tournament. Upsets will always happen in the NCAA Tournament but upset rarely happen in the NBA, but this is the first time in playoff history the games were all on a neutral site.
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If fans aren’t allowed in arenas next season I would like to see the bubble come back for the playoffs. Asking the players to play in a bubble for an 82-game regular game season is unrealistic to say the least, but for the playoffs, they would probably do it again. The teams that are mentally the toughest will have the best shot at winning.