You ever wonder what life is like in the infamous NBA “bubble?” On one hand, they are essentially trapped in one area, away from family, away from their homes, and having to worry about a possible COVID-19 outbreak any minute. On the other hand, they are staying in five-star hotels with room service, amenities, and access to certain rides on the grounds.
Plus, having your teammates watch your back is definitely a bonus.
In a recent Zoom press conference, new Clippers guard Reggie Jackson detailed how hos teammate, Patrick Beverley, started yelling through walls at 2 a.m., apparently trying to check up on his guys.
“We’re all locked up now in quarantine, can’t leave your room, but it’s probably 2:00 a.m. and all we get is a ‘Yoooo! Yoooo!’ Everybody is like, what is going on,” said Jackson, via Garrett Chorpenning of SI. “Bev is just yelling through walls, making sure everybody is good. It’s the first day, he’s just checking, everybody opening their doors saying what’s up, looked at each other, and that made, I guess, the first part of the 24 hours of lockdown even better, just knowing that your teammates were there with you.
“That’s just something very simple, but the guy is constant energy, a lot of intangibles… He’s great with the team.”
Despite the likelihood that he woke up most of his teammates from a deep slumber, they seemed to appreciate that he was there, reaching out, trying to bring his team together.
This kind of energy may be a lot, and can be easily misunderstood. But for L.A., they not only appreciate it, but they’ve also learned to grow from it.
On the court, Beverley portrays much of the same energy on defense, where he locks up opponents and gets into their heads with trash talk. And no matter how you feel about Bev, the Clippers are going to need him for what he does (on and off the court) if they want to hoist that Larry O’Brien trophy in a few months.
