The teams of the NBA were placed in the Disney World Orlando “bubble”, comprised of 3 hotels that feature tons of different amenities, facilities and everything the players could possibly need. Players are not allowed to leave the bubble without official approval, they may leave just for doctor’s appointments, weddings or major reasons. The Orlando Disney bubble enables them with access to pools, rides, movie theaters, card games, and play-station centers the players are definitely well entertained. The bubble is proving to be more of a challenge than the NBA thought, with players complaining and finding it rather hard to stick to the rules and regulations. The complaints are piling up and the players are getting riled up too…
NBA players have been directly calling Adam Silver with complaints about the handling within the bubble. An anonymous hotline was setup in order for players to call in and report any misconduct. Most calls have been about social distancing and mask wearing mishaps, since then it has been emphasized that each team needs to make a point of informing their players about the rules and that these will be enforced, meaning fines and even worse repercussions such as suspension or even removal. Most complaints have been about the food with many players taking to Instagram to showcase what they have been receiving, it is certainly not what the are used to nor what we expected, however, Giannis Antetokounmpo truly stood out above the rest. He said in an interview that to him he feels blessed and even grateful to be able to continue the season, to have food and a roof over his head. A truly humble individual and an incredible player. The Antetokounmpo brothers have been in the bubble together, celebrated a birthday and taken the competitiveness to the next level with their card games. However, some players are not seeing it in the same light with complaints and threats being made. Some players are struggling to be away from family members which then allowed for a rule change where players will be allowed to have one loved one at each game, naturally, COVID-19 tests will be needed and protocols are in place. Other speculations ave been made with an Instagram model who took to Twitter announcing that she was in fact invited to the bubble, making us wonder just how the NBA stars are handling life with no fraternization and if they are in fact sticking to the rules in place. So far there have been no positive cases and the few hiccups are most likely being smoothed over and improved upon. The games have been working on a tight schedule, running smoothly and given the circumstances the NBA is doing a good job, it my not be perfect but it surely is working. So far a few misconduct mishaps and some behavior remarks have been made with threats from both directions. Let’s see what pans out and if any more models are invited next…