This NBA season has been extremely uncommon, to say the least. The league had to maneuver to finish it amid a global pandemic, suspending the campaign in March and resuming play in July. The Orlando bubble was the lifesaver for the league and we’re at least three games away from the end of the season. The Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat are playing for the championship, with the former being favorite to win the title.
Many people believe that the fact the games are played in a neutral location might have favored certain teams since it doesn’t bring the same pressure for players, who are playing in empty gyms with no public. Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen is not a fan of the bubble, either, as he recently claimed it was just ‘pickup basketball’ for many players. During an interview with Business Insider, Pippen said:
“Well, I’m going to be honest. It’s not NBA basketball. It’s not the hard grind. It’s not the travel. It’s not the fans. It’s not the distractions. Really, to me, it’s pickup basketball. It’s going to the gym. Yeah, you already got your team. Y’all practicing together. But it’s a more of a pickup type of basketball game, because there’s no fans in the stands. So there is no distraction. There’s no real noise. There’s no pressure on the players, you know. Prime example: I looked at Rondo. Rondo ain’t made three-pointers in his whole NBA career. Now, all of a sudden, he’s in a bubble, he’s probably a 50% three-point shooter. I haven’t even checked the stats.”
Even without checking the stats, Pippen is right about Rondo. The point guard is shooting 44.8 percent from beyond the arc this postseason, something unthinkable for him before. Throughout his career, Rajon averages 31.6 percent shooting percentage from three.
LeBron James has explained it wasn’t easy to get used to playing without fans, but the Lakers have done just fine in the bubble. They are only three games away from winning the title after 10 years and their players have seemingly gotten better over the past couple of months.
