Bubble Inflated or Not?

[HoopsNY]

This thread is kind of a spinoff from the discussion in another thread regarding Jimmy Butler vs. Clyde Drexler.

I made the claim that relying on Butler's numbers from last year, particularly the finals, wasn't really fair given the circumstances of having no fans, road pressure, or the physical and mental strain of traveling.

Let's take a look at some guys between last year and this year and how their numbers look, particularly their shooting percentages:

Butler 2020: 49/35/86, 22 PPG
Butler 2021: 30/27/73, 15 PPG

Giannis 2020: 56/33/58, 27 PPG
Giannis 2021: 50/14/51, 27 PPG

Mitchell 2020: 53/52/95, 36 PPG
Mitchell 2021: 48/44/85, 32 PPG

LeBron 2020: 56/37/72, 28 PPG
LeBron 2021: 47/37/61, 23 PPG

Jokic 2020: 52/43/84, 24 PPG
Jokic 2021: 51/38/84, 30 PPG

Luka 2020: 50/36/66, 31 PPG
Luka 2020: 49/41/53, 36 PPG

Westbrook 2020: 42/24/53, 18 PPG
Westbrook 2021: 33/25/79, 19 PPG

AD 2020: 57/38/83, 28 PPG
AD 2021: 40/18/83, 17 PPG

It should be noted that guys like Kawhi, George, and Embiid saw notable increases in their numbers this year, particularly their efficiency numbers. Intuition tells me that had Jamal Murray played this postseason, his numbers, too, would have dropped.

I think the bubble had an effect, though maybe not as much as I had previously believed, but some of the numbers certainly are glaring. What's everyone else's thoughts?

[000]

ppl mostly freaked out when murray and mitchell dropped 50 pts against each other like a million times, which to be fair was pretty baffling

[8Ball]

No.

Not inflated at all but it carries a huge *.

Lakers played without home court advantage and their starting point guard and won the championship despite those disadvantages.

It was one of the most unfair championships Bron has has to win and overcome.

[theman93]

No.

Not inflated at all but it carries a huge *.

Lakers played without home court advantage and their starting point guard and won the championship despite those disadvantages.

It was one of the most unfair championships Bron has has to win and overcome.

-Miami lost one of their all-stars for half the series and their second leading playoff scorer for the entire series
-Lebron had a 1st team All-NBA sidekick vs Butler who's sidekick missed half the series and was not an All-NBA player
-Neither team had to face the oppositions home crowd

Nothing about the 2020 Finals was unfair for him. In fact it was beneficial.

[ImKobe]

No.

Not inflated at all but it carries a huge *.

Lakers played without home court advantage and their starting point guard and won the championship despite those disadvantages.

It was one of the most unfair championships Bron has has to win and overcome.

Dame injured 1st round, Westbrook injured 2nd round, Bam and Dragic injured in the Finals. Not only that, he got 4 months to rest leading up to the Playoffs.

Not the Lakers' fault that those guys got injured & that COVID happened, but it definitely benefited an older player in Lebron, and it made it much easier for us to go all the way.

[8Ball]

LeBron lost Kyrie Irving and Kevin love in 2015 for the entire finals.


Lakers played with ZERO home court advantage for the entire playoffs.
Lakers were the best away team the entire season pre covid. Nearly better away record than a home record.

Lakers played without their starting point guard because of covid.

[8Ball]

Dame injured 1st round, Westbrook injured 2nd round, Bam and Dragic injured in the Finals. Not only that, he got 4 months to rest leading up to the Playoffs.

Not the Lakers' fault that those guys got injured & that COVID happened, but it definitely benefited an older player in Lebron, and it made it much easier for us to go all the way.


Bubble had nothing to do with injuries. Injuries are a part of basketball for every single season. Look at this year. AD played hobbled the entire season because he didn't get enough off season time to recover. So the bubble was actually a disadvantage for LeBron's career.


Bubble took away home court advantage and the starting point guard due to covid reasons.


Another atlas stone that LeBron had to overcome.

[ImKobe]

Bubble had nothing to do with injuries. Injuries are a part of basketball for every single season. Look at this year. AD played hobbled the entire season because he didn't get enough off season time to recover. So the bubble was actually a disadvantage for LeBron's career.


Bubble took away home court advantage and the starting point guard due to covid reasons.


Another atlas stone that LeBron had to overcome.

The championship run does, unfortunately. Lakers had an easy road to the chip, and the 4-month break made it possible for an aging Lebron to be 100% for the Playoffs, we saw what happened in 2019 and this year, he might not be able to play a full season without breaking down anymore.

[theman93]

LeBron lost Kyrie Irving and Kevin love in 2015 for the entire finals.

And lost.


Lakers played with ZERO home court advantage for the entire playoffs.

And also got 4 months to rest his body for the playoff run.


Lakers were the best away team the entire season pre covid. Nearly better away record than a home record.

And? They were worse on the road than at home and never had the disadvantage of playing on the opponent's home floor. Miami was the 3rd best home team that year and Lebron never had to feel the pressure of returning to Miami in a Finals game.


Lakers played without their starting point guard because of covid.

Avery Bradley sucked so what? Dude averaged a miserable 8.6/2.3/1.3 and sucked on defense (something he was supposedly known for) putting up a 110 Drtg which was good for 13th on his team.

Meanwhile, LA had the benefit of facing Miami without their starting point guard who was also their 2nd leading scorer and their other all-star for half the series.

[Xiao Yao You]

Dame injured 1st round, Westbrook injured 2nd round, Bam and Dragic injured in the Finals. Not only that, he got 4 months to rest leading up to the Playoffs.

Not the Lakers' fault that those guys got injured & that COVID happened, but it definitely benefited an older player in Lebron, and it made it much easier for us to go all the way.

Injury prone Davis was helped by it as well

[ImKobe]

Injury prone Davis was helped by it as well

Davis was healthy for 3 straight seasons leading up to it(they benched him his last season in NO after trade requests), and he was healthy last year as well.

[SouBeachTalents]

The clear outliers are LeBron, AD & Butler, but all 3 are a miniscule sample size. AD was injured and LeBron was clearly not 100%, while Butler just frankly had a very shitty 4 game stretch. The rest of the guys you listed are rather comparable

[Shooter]

LeBron lost Kyrie Irving and Kevin love in 2015 for the entire finals.


Lakers played with ZERO home court advantage for the entire playoffs.
Lakers were the best away team the entire season pre covid. Nearly better away record than a home record.

Lakers played without their starting point guard because of covid.

Bingo

[FKAri]

Different athletes are affected differently by such a drastic change to their schedule and routine. It just created a new variable. Just goes to show how tiny changes can make a big difference at the highest levels.

[8Ball]

And lost.



And also got 4 months to rest his body for the playoff run.



And? They were worse on the road than at home and never had the disadvantage of playing on the opponent's home floor. Miami was the 3rd best home team that year and Lebron never had to feel the pressure of returning to Miami in a Finals game.



Avery Bradley sucked so what? Dude averaged a miserable 8.6/2.3/1.3 and sucked on defense (something he was supposedly known for) putting up a 110 Drtg which was good for 13th on his team.

Meanwhile, LA had the benefit of facing Miami without their starting point guard who was also their 2nd leading scorer and their other all-star for half the series.

Giannis had a knee sprain before covid hit. So LeBron was robbed of his 5th MVP.

Covid bubble was the best thing that could have happened to Jordan's legacy.

[OmniStrife]

Well Suns did go 8-0 so probably not? lol

[theman93]

Giannis had a knee sprain before covid hit. So LeBron was robbed of his 5th MVP.

Covid bubble was the best thing that could have happened to Jordan's legacy.

Why are you making this about Jordan and shifting around the goal posts?? We're talking about how the bubble was actually an advantage for Lebron. And I debunked all of your nonsense.

[MrFonzworth]

100%. TJ Warren went from 26 bubble points a game to 15 a game.

[8Ball]

Why are you making this about Jordan and shifting around the goal posts?? We're talking about how the bubble was actually an advantage for Lebron. And I debunked all of your nonsense.

Disadvantage for LeBron but he overcame it.

Only you think losing home court doesn't matter in the playoffs.

Nor losing starting point guard because he didnt want to go to the bubble.

[theman93]

Disadvantage for LeBron but he overcame it.

Only you think losing home court doesn't matter in the playoffs.

Nor losing starting point guard because he didnt want to go to the bubble.

You said his 2020 title was unfair for him. Turns it also came with some advantages for him too.

4 months off to rest your 35 year old body is an advantage for him.

Playing Miami without Bam for half the series and Dragic for the entire series is an advantage for him.

Not having to fly across the country to play a top 3 homecourt is an advantage for him.

Goes both ways. Tell the whole story.

[8Ball]

LeBron was 2nd in the MVP race and the Lakers were running full steam. Moot point to give LeBron 4 months off. Everyone got 4 months off.

Bubble had nothing to do with Bam and Dragic injured, injuries happen regardless of bubble or not.

This debate is settled.

[Carbine]

Different rims. Micky mouse rims were a real thing.

[theman93]

The Lakers were 38-19 in games Bradley played. Without him they were 13-1 and then won without him in the playoffs.

Bradley was one of the worst defenders on LA, had a -0.2 VORP and a -2.5 BPM.

We're supposed to believe losing this bum was a disadvantage for LA? Sorry no. He is a certified scrub.

[RRR3]

I’ve never seen anyone complain about the bubble who wasn’t

A. Butthurt LeBron won
B. Butthurt their team lost


And tbh 95% of the people whining are in category A.

[MadDog]

I’ve never seen anyone complain about the bubble who wasn’t

A. Butthurt LeBron won
B. Butthurt their team lost


And tbh 95% of the people whining are in category A.

Plenty of players call the bubble an asterisk. Barkley and Shaq just to name a few. Are they "butthurt" too? :oldlol:

[8Ball]

Plenty of players call the bubble an asterisk. Barkley and Shaq just to name a few. Are they "butthurt" too? :oldlol:

Lol?

They've been butt hurt since 2015 when jump shooting teams started winning the chips.

Yes they are butthurt since they can't shoot 3s. Old man yelling at cloud syndrome.

[Shooter]

Giannis had a knee sprain before covid hit. So LeBron was robbed of his 5th MVP.

Covid bubble was the best thing that could have happened to Jordan's legacy.

100%

[MadDog]

Lol?

They've been butt hurt since 2015 when jump shooting teams started winning the chips.

Yes they are butthurt since they can't shoot 3s. Old man yelling at cloud syndrome.

That would make sense if Curry wasn't Shaq's favorite player :oldlol:

[bladefd]

I’ve never seen anyone complain about the bubble who wasn’t

A. Butthurt LeBron won
B. Butthurt their team lost


And tbh 95% of the people whining are in category A.

Pretty much.

It's very similar to the play-in argument. Mark Cuban was b!tching and moaning when his team was in line for the play-in. As soon as Mavericks were in line to be top 6 seed, it was suddenly a good idea to him. People only cry when they are in the play-in.

[RRR3]

Plenty of players call the bubble an asterisk. Barkley and Shaq just to name a few. Are they "butthurt" too? :oldlol:
Definitely going to listen to a poster who obsessively hates on LeBron :rolleyes:

[Axe]

Dame injured 1st round, Westbrook injured 2nd round, Bam and Dragic injured in the Finals. Not only that, he got 4 months to rest leading up to the Playoffs.

Not the Lakers' fault that those guys got injured & that COVID happened, but it definitely benefited an older player in Lebron, and it made it much easier for us to go all the way.
So in other words, the so-called wild wild west is just a myth huh?