The NBA bubble is just one to three games away from concluding one of the league’s most memorable seasons in its long history.
Seven months ago, the NBA abruptly suspended the season after Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for COVID-19. Not long after that, a handful of players soon tested positive too. At that point, the NBA and its fandom were unsure whether or not the league would resume play.
Fast forward to more than one hundred days after, the NBA front office released a 100+ page detailed plan on how the league will resume its season. The plan was too good to be true then. How can more than 1000+ personnel be crammed inside a bubble for more than 100 days?
Apparently, it’s possible, and the plan is nearing the piece de resistance.
NBA bubble champion will soon be crowned
Adam Silver and the rest of his team from the league office must not have released what the Finals will look like. Who did anyway? No one foresaw that the Clippers would crumble in the second round. Neither did the majority of people expect the Miami Heat to take their Playoffs journey this far.
All these were possible thanks to the hard work of the teams and their front offices. Not only were the players able to continue playing the game they love, but they were also able to fight for their causes.
As such, the players endured playing through what was happening outside the NBA bubble. They even forced the league to take notice of the reality outside the complex by going on a 3-day strike. Erik Spoelstra said,
“I wanted everybody to have perspective on how difficult this is, how extraordinary of an experience all of this is. Being part of this bubble, being here for 80-plus days, surviving all of it and earning the right to compete for an NBA title.”
Ode to the late Kobe Bryant
The Los Angeles Lakers are now just one win away from earning the 2020 NBA Final championship trophy. It will be the team’s first ring in a decade since Kobe Bryant won. If the Lakers indeed win, it will be the ultimate tribute to the legacy of Kobe Bryant, who died in a fatal helicopter crash earlier this year.
What will happen next season?
As of the moment, Adam Silver hasn’t clearly indicated how the next season will proceed. The only confirmation he said was that the season would be played no earlier than Christmas day of 2020. In other words, the 2020-2021 NBA season will most likely be a shortened season.
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