The NBA Bubble was by far the most discussed championship in the past decade – even more so than the 2016 Cavaliers victory.
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Adam Silver and the NBA spent approximately 180 million dollars to complete the season that was mired by COVID (the fans didn’t care about the effort). Not just fans, but even the analysts too. A few teams did not get the invite, just to make sure the virus didn’t spread, but all the main contenders were sent to the Bubble in Orlando. Stars like Stephen Curry missed out, which may be why many people dismissed the effort entirely.
Shaquille O’Neal went one step further to say that he considered this championship an “asterisk baby”. He likened the 2020 championship to the 1998-99 championship, which was also shortened. Since that season only had 50 regular season games, an asterisk works there. But in a season that had 72 games and 2 gentlemen sweeps to the championship, that shouldn’t be the case.
If the Miami Heat did end up winning the championship in an alternate reality, Tyler Herro would be the champion, not Kyle Kuzma. That, and LeBron James would be 3-7 in the finals. Everyone and their Nana consider the bubble an easy run, so shouldn’t it have been easy for everybody? Nobody had a home-court advantage, and the numbers show how the absence of support dropped the chances of winning.
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Should more people talk about the Bubble? Yes, for the quality of Basketball we got to witness!
We had a legendary match-up in the playoffs that people gloss over—The Nuggets vs. the Jazz. This contest had record-breakers in its midst: Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell. The duo had never scored 50 points ever before this matchup, but they both ended up having multiples in the same series. Bar that heartbreaking rim rattler of the last shot, nobody knew who would win that series.
Nikola Jokic stamped his mark as a superstar of the league during that season. Fans finally took the Joker seriously. Herro’s bubble performances were not a blip, because he is now the 6th Man of the Year. Dame showed up with an outstanding run of points, and the Lakers were the most fun team to watch. They struggled with shooting but made up for it with height and defense.
Certain players, like Anthony Davis, benefited greatly because they shot lights out. A below-average shooter from midrange, AD was playing like a guard, shooting above 55%. He did play better, but so did his competition, which evened things out once again.
The NBA Bubble only gets the hate because the Los Angeles Lakers won it – if it was won by any other team, people wouldn’t be against it
The NBA Bubble started as a fun concept but ended up with an asterisk because the Lakers won it. Hypocrisy, because nobody wanted to see them win. Analysts and ex-players considered it an easy win because the season was shortened. They still played 72 games and ended up as the first seed in the west. They deride the Lakers for winning the championship but praise individuals for outperforming themselves during that stretch.
Damian Lillard and Devin Booker showed the league what they could do if all they had to do was hoop. The Sun’s amazing 8-0 run was a precursor to the good things to come. Chris Paul jumped ship to join hands with Book and form a formidable partnership. Because of the bubble, TJ Warren, arguably the bubble MVP, became relevant.
If anybody, ANYBODY, except the Lakers did reach the championship winner podium, analysts wouldn’t take offense to it. They would berate LeBron for not being able to win even when there are no distractions. That is for sure. Skip Bayless would foam at the mouth for an opportunity that great.
The Bubble is arguably the best pure basketball we’ve seen—akin to what Rucker Park Basketball is. Pure skills, no domination from any sort of support. No distractions, no influence, just basketball, and bad haircuts.
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