The Medic: The bubble model was a massive success for sports
Days after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert infamously touched all the microphones at a press conference in a perceived act of humor, Gobert became “Patient Zero” for the coronavirus in the NBA on March 11. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver took swift action and suspended the season that same day.
For months, there were debates on whether the NBA season would resume. As the number of cases kept rising in the nation and the world, many other organizations such as the MLB and NCAA had to suspend or cancel their seasons, and the chances seemed bleak that the NBA would return.
There could have been a scenario in which we didn’t get a chance to see the Los Angeles Lakers go for their 17th championship and LeBron James further solidify his legacy. However, the NBA, as well as the WNBA and NHL, went to work and successfully conducted one of the most intriguing experiments in sports and medical history by creating the bubble.
The WNBA stayed at the athletically prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. and played a shortened season until Oct. 6, when legend Sue Bird and the Seattle Storm picked up their fourth national title.
One of the most critical events during their time in the bubble was when a couple of Seattle Storm players had their tests come back as inconclusive just a few hours prior to their semi-finals matchup against the Minnesota Lynx. Instead of rolling the dice and letting the game happen, the league acted swiftly and postponed the game instead of threatening an outbreak.
Going up north to Orlando, the NBA held its final eight regular season games and normal playoff series at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World. Both leagues implemented strict coronavirus protocols, and most of the players followed them. However, there were some players in the NBA who didn’t act in accordance.
For instance, Houston Rockets forward Danuel House Jr. brought an unauthorized guest into his hotel room in September during the Rockets’ playoff series against the Lakers. Instead of wasting time and deliberating over this case, the NBA kicked House Jr. out of the bubble for not complying with protocol. On a less severe note, Sacramento Kings center Richaun Holmes was forced to quarantine for 10 days before the resumption of play because he left the bubble to pick up a food delivery.
Unlike the NBA’s swift decision-making, the MLB was slow to react to cases in their league, in particular, the Miami Marlins. At least one of the Marlins players went out into the city during their stay in Atlanta in late July which led to an outbreak in the team to around 17 other players. Rather than strictly forbidding players to leave the hotel or at least forcing them to quarantine away from the rest of the team, the Marlins and MLB’s poor mismanagement put the season into jeopardy late in the summer.
On the topic of testing, if you got a chance to watch one of the vlogs by Philadelphia 76ers rookie Matisse Thybulle or recent NBA champion Lakers center Javale McGee, they show you a firsthand look into how rigorous daily testing is in the bubble with a dedicated staff to properly swab every player, staff, employee, etc.
Silver and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert should be applauded for their efforts along with all their league staff that worked on making their bubbles possible despite the stresses of the pandemic in the U.S. Even though the cases keep rising in the nation, they both showed that with proper leadership and strategy, as well as a responsible population, safety can be maintained.
Doctors have also overwhelmingly agreed that the precautions the NBA took are much safer than leagues that are still traveling across the nation, such as MLB and the NFL.
“The reason is the bubble versus not the bubble,” said Dr. Benjamin Linas, an epidemiologist and associate professor of infectious diseases at Boston University. “The NBA and NHL have demonstrated if you really require it, you can do it.”
I wished that the Pac-12 and USC kept some type of bubble system for the shortened football season like the NBA to limit the spread of the virus. But if the NFL and other conferences weren’t going to, it was unlikely that the Pac-12 would change.
What is important in the creation of this bubble was that it was centralized by one governing league, rather than giving each team more responsibility with testing and coronavirus protocols like in the NFL.
Unfortunately, money and ratings influence sports leagues, such as the NFL, to neglect the safety of players and their surrounding community. Specifically, many NFL teams are insistent on playing in their home stadiums and want to bring fans for increased revenue and higher ratings because they want to replicate the normal football experience before the pandemic which can’t happen in a bubble format.
Although NBA viewership dipped in the bubble, as seen by the 51% decrease in ratings during the Finals compared to last year, we still got a chance to see history in the making with the Lakers and the amazing run by the fifth-seeded Miami Heat all while maintaining health and safety. It was (hopefully) a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness the bubble and its successes in containing the virus’ spread.
Pratik Thakur is a sophomore writing about sports and its intersection with health policy during the coronavirus pandemic. His column, “The Medic,” runs every other Tuesday.