JR Smith just said the bubble was a practice game

[BigKobeFan]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/j-r-smith-reveals-nba-170308898.html

[ShawkFactory]

The rest of the quote: "some of ‘em really can’t play that well in front of 30,000 — but at the same time you saw some of the best level of basketball.”

Seems like he's saying the bubble actually had a good effect on some guys and that the overall quality of play wasn't affected at all. Maybe even the opposite.

[TheGoatest]

you saw some of the best level of basketball

This quote from J.R. Smith from the article is an 100% accurate description of what the bubble was.

[Hey Yo]

LOL @ the thread backfire

[SouBeachTalents]

I've never heard a good explanation for why if the bubble was so easy, why the Bucks & Clippers collapsed so spectacularly, and why Giannis & Kawhi played so far below their regular standards.

[TheGoatest]

I've never heard a good explanation for why if the bubble was so easy, why the Bucks & Clippers collapsed so spectacularly, and why Giannis & Kawhi played so far below their regular standards.

You'll see jordon extremists dodge that subject as much as the subject of the Lakers being the #1 seed in the west after 63 games played BEFORE the season was suspended and the bubble was ever a thing. :roll:

Giannis at the start of bubble games: "This will be the hardest ring ever".
Giannis after the bubble: "The Heat suck and could only play well in the bubble."

:roll:

[Airupthere]

"some of ‘em really can’t play that well in front of 30,000”

These are the players that can't handle the pressure of the slam dunk contest and the ones that play hot potato. They thrive in bubble situations.

[Akeem34TheDream]

I wonder if we will see Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell drop 31.6 and 36.3 ppg on .682, .696 TS again? Or anyone else ever?

[SouBeachTalents]

I wonder if we will see Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell drop 31.6 and 36.3 ppg on .682, .696 TS again? Or anyone else ever?
Are you serious? KD & Dame just did that shit last year :lol Hell, Mitchell averaged 32 on 60%TS last year too.

[Kawhi_Why_Not]

It was a joke, like a pickup game at the YMCA. It's perfectly built for a weak minded injury prone soft beta like Anthony Davis, so lebron was able to take advantage of that. It even has less value then ABA championships, at least they had a crowd and traveled.

[1987_Lakers]

It was a joke, like a pickup game at the YMCA. It's perfectly built for a weak minded injury prone soft beta like Anthony Davis, so lebron was able to take advantage of that. It even has less value then ABA championships, at least they had a crowd and traveled.

It exposed mentally weak players like Paul George and Kawhi.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKvPBLX98AU&t

[John_Connor]

how hard was it for lebron and AD to beat a bunch of drunk and high people in "practice games"


jesus. I thought it was just no travel or fans. now I find out everyone's inebriated.



2020 = void

[tpols]

The rest of the quote: "some of ‘em really can’t play that well in front of 30,000 — but at the same time you saw some of the best level of basketball.”

Seems like he's saying the bubble actually had a good effect on some guys and that the overall quality of play wasn't affected at all. Maybe even the opposite.

What he's saying relates to mental pressure. It is true its much easier to play at a park than under the spotlight of a crowd. I remember myself when I would hoop at the gym on I got next I did much better than playing organized ball. Crowd pressure affects performance.

[Akeem34TheDream]

Are you serious? KD & Dame just did that shit last year :lol Hell, Mitchell averaged 32 on 60%TS last year too.

None of them are those level of efficiencies. Mitchell and Murray shoot incredibly well that series especially their 3pt shooting. Btw you mentioned Clippers and Bucks. Bucks swept the Heat next year, they just needed a good point guard and i have no doubt Clippers would have beaten the Nuggets with a competent coach like Ty Lue. Ty Lue is so much better than Doc as a coach.

[Spurs m8]

Lol we already knew it was a joke

Now we know most of them we're constantly stoned too

Nice ring :roll:

[ImKobe]

Lol we already knew it was a joke

Now we know most of them we're constantly stoned too

Nice ring :roll:

Constantly stoned & drinking wine.

"highest level of basketball"
"toughest road"

meanwhile, a role player no one ever heard about all of a sudden looks like prime MJ in the bubble

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eenc0jOX0AEsyXO.jpg

[Xiao Yao You]

how hard was it for lebron and AD to beat a bunch of drunk and high people in "practice games"


jesus. I thought it was just no travel or fans. now I find out everyone's inebriated.



2020 = void

It would have been tough if they hadn't had months off to get healthy. The bubble was a joke

[1987_Lakers]

Constantly stoned & drinking wine.


https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gtbhr_lBo88

Just yesterday, right before a big game.

Lets give this season asterisk as well.

[ImKobe]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gtbhr_lBo88

Just yesterday, right before a big game.

Lets give this season asterisk as well.

That's different than having a 5-month off-season, followed by a Playoff run with no fans, no traveling & no distractions. They did essentially play in a practice environment. They had to pump in fake noise to make it feel like a Playoff game. It was fun to watch for sure, but you can't tell me that's as hard as having to travel and play in front of tens of thousands of people.

[1987_Lakers]

but you can't tell me that's as hard as having to travel and play in front of tens of thousands of people.

It was for Kawhi & Paul George. Also ignoring the fact that the bubble took away one of our rotation players in Bradley and took away our HCA.

[Spurs m8]

That's different than having a 5-month off-season, followed by a Playoff run with no fans, no traveling & no distractions. They did essentially play in a practice environment. They had to pump in fake noise to make it feel like a Playoff game. It was fun to watch for sure, but you can't tell me that's as hard as having to travel and play in front of tens of thousands of people.

Honestly, it wasn't even fun to watch.

Probably why the ratings were at all time lows

Nothing really felt real until playoffs last season, when fans returned

[ImKobe]

It was for Kawhi & Paul George. Also ignoring the fact that the bubble took away one of our rotation players in Bradley and took away our HCA.

Bran and Davis have been hurt every season in LA, except for that one year they got to rest 5 months prior to a Playoff run. I'd say they benefited more from it than most teams.

Also, it's probably a lame excuse from Kawhi & PG, who choked a 3 - 1 lead. The only downside for those guys would be that they didn't get to go out & party while in the bubble, but there's 0 excuse for them not to be playing at their best in that environment.

[Xiao Yao You]

It was for Kawhi & Paul George. Also ignoring the fact that the bubble took away one of our rotation players in Bradley and took away our HCA.

but gave you Lebron and Davis at 100% which doesn't happen without the Trump virus shutting the league down for months

[1987_Lakers]

Honestly, it wasn't even fun to watch.

Probably why the ratings were at all time lows

Nothing really felt real until playoffs last season, when fans returned

Last season was ruined by all the injuries in the playoffs. If LeBron won last year instead of the bubble, you would bitch about how he won it because of injuries.

[1987_Lakers]

but gave you Lebron and Davis at 100% which doesn't happen without the Trump virus shutting the league down for months

LeBron & AD were both healthy before the shutdown. Stupid to go off hypotheticals.

[ImKobe]

Honestly, it wasn't even fun to watch.

Probably why the ratings were at all time lows

Nothing really felt real until playoffs last season, when fans returned

We missed out on Lakers-Clippers WCF & Lakers-Bucks Finals and the Finals we did get was ruined by injuries. The first 3 rounds were fun though.

[Xiao Yao You]

LeBron & AD were both healthy before the shutdown. Stupid to go off hypotheticals.

Lebron has been hurt the past 4 years. Won the scoring title but really didn't because he can't stay on the floor. And AD has never stayed healthy. Odds of them staying healthy and winning were slim without the shutdown. Which is why it was so funny that everyone thought they were the favorite this year besides the fact that Westbrook never made any sense.

[John_Connor]

lebron and AD can't make it through a full season. 5 months off made it like 2 mini seasons. only reason they were healthy for the playoffs

that alone voids it. the no fans and no travel with everyone being drunk and stoned is just icing on the cake

plus KD and kyrie skipped it for a blm protest lmao

[FKAri]

What he's saying relates to mental pressure. It is true its much easier to play at a park than under the spotlight of a crowd. I remember myself when I would hoop at the gym on I got next I did much better than playing organized ball. Crowd pressure affects performance.

And yet we saw one of the biggest chokejobs ever. Kawhi fans latching onto anything to excuse the Clippers collapse.

[Full Court]

It had the lowest viewership in modern NBA history. Why? Because nobody cared about it? Why did nobody care about it? Because everybody knew it was a joke.

Bronies trying to play it up after the fact doesn't change that.

[Hey Yo]

It had the lowest viewership in modern NBA history. Why? Because nobody cared about it? Why did nobody care about it? Because everybody knew it was a joke.

Bronies trying to play it up after the fact doesn't change that.

Guarantee that if the Bulls won in 1995.... you'd be saying today that MJ has 7 rings.

Pretty funny that MJ thought ditching #45 for #23 would help him play better that series.

[TheGoatest]

Constantly stoned & drinking wine.

"highest level of basketball"
"toughest road"

meanwhile, a role player no one ever heard about all of a sudden looks like prime MJ in the bubble

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eenc0jOX0AEsyXO.jpg

So you're saying that LeGOATest won in an environment where players played better than they usually do?
Great! Thanks for the compliments on LeBron's 2020 ring/Finals MVP, jordon extremist alt. :applause:

[MoBe1Kanobi]

Half of the league that was elgible for a playoff run literally didn't even want to be there.

Nobody was dying to win the title that year except for LeBron.

All it took for success in that years playoffs is literally WANTING IT...

The Suns heard disrespect for literally being looked at as a throw in, they literally WILLED their way to an undefeated record.

The Heat weren't really hot shit all year. They get to the bubble and just off the fact that Jimmy Butler cares more than most... that got his team to the Finals when just the season prior he couldn't WILL his team to the Finals as the 3rd/4th best player on the Sixers.

Because in every other year, pretty much the whole league cares. You cannot simply make it to the Finals most year by just simply caring.

Thats what happened that year.

Most of these up and coming teams that will be good for a long time didn't really have any urgency and were just happy to be back doing playoff things and just being involved in a playoff run (Celtics, Nuggets, Mavericks, Sixers, etc)

Clippers literally couldn't wait to get back to LA and couldn't really motivate themselves to win such a charade of a title.

As did most teams.

But an aging LeBron who hasn't played playoff ball in 2 yrs and is really getting the most pressure-less chance at a 4th title...

LeBron clearly sees a title that has the perfect storm of situational BS that feels handmade for a player in LeBron's situation to capitalize in.

Ill tell u what..

Ill give LeBron credit for caring more than the other teams.. but considering that a strong majority of the league didn't show up to stay at all... I can't pretend like this title provided any sort of actual challenge for a champion other than staying self-motivated.. and when you have more incentives to win this ring more than anyone else, how self motivated can you really claim to be...?

The most unimpressive ring of all time if we're being quite honest.

[1987_Lakers]

Nobody was dying to win the title that year except for LeBron.

Is that why LeBron was willing to shut down the season in order to protest the George Floyd killing?

Bron was willing to sacrifice a ring in order to bring social justice to this country.

:applause:

[TheGoatest]

Half of the league that was elgible for a playoff run literally didn't even want to be there.

Nobody was dying to win the title that year except for LeBron.

All it took for success in that years playoffs is literally WANTING IT...

The Suns heard disrespect for literally being looked at as a throw in, they literally WILLED their way to an undefeated record.

The Heat weren't really hot shit all year. They get to the bubble and just off the fact that Jimmy Butler cares more than most... that got his team to the Finals when just the season prior he couldn't WILL his team to the Finals as the 3rd/4th best player on the Sixers.

Because in every other year, pretty much the whole league cares. You cannot simply make it to the Finals most year by just simply caring.

Thats what happened that year.

Most of these up and coming teams that will be good for a long time didn't really have any urgency and were just happy to be back doing playoff things and just being involved in a playoff run (Celtics, Nuggets, Mavericks, Sixers, etc)

Clippers literally couldn't wait to get back to LA and couldn't really motivate themselves to win such a charade of a title.

As did most teams.

But an aging LeBron who hasn't played playoff ball in 2 yrs and is really getting the most pressure-less chance at a 4th title...

LeBron clearly sees a title that has the perfect storm of situational BS that feels handmade for a player in LeBron's situation to capitalize in.

Ill tell u what..

Ill give LeBron credit for caring more than the other teams.. but considering that a strong majority of the league didn't show up to stay at all... I can't pretend like this title provided any sort of actual challenge for a champion other than staying self-motivated.. and when you have more incentives to win this ring more than anyone else, how self motivated can you really claim to be...?

The most unimpressive ring of all time if we're being quite honest.

The Lakers literally won the 2020 championships with LeBron literally being the Finals MVP, leaving you literally melting down and literally writing essays about your literal meltdowns. :roll:

[ImKobe]

So you're saying that LeGOATest won in an environment where players played better than they usually do?
Great! Thanks for the compliments on LeBron's 2020 ring/Finals MVP, jordon extremist alt. :applause:

No. Role players thrived in that environment because there was no pressure and no distractions without the fans and the traveling. Superstars get theirs regardless.

[1987_Lakers]

No. Role players thrived in that environment because there was no pressure and no distractions without the fans and the traveling. Superstars get theirs regardless.

Tell that to Danny Green who was beyond horrific for the Lakers.

[Taurus]

I don't think anyone has ever given me a convincing argument as to why the bubble was an easy win relative to other years.

[Akeem34TheDream]

I don't think anyone has ever given me a convincing argument as to why the bubble was an easy win relative to other years.

I wouldn't say easy but totally different like an anomaly. So many different conditions that you need to point out that it was the bubble. It was either gonna be a incomplete season or this new, kinda forced setup where new rules were made up to make it more interesting.

[TheGoatest]

No. Role players thrived in that environment because there was no pressure and no distractions without the fans and the traveling. Superstars get theirs regardless.

So you're saying that LeGOATest won in an environment where 80-90%% of players played better than they usually do and the other 10-20% percent played as well as usual?
Great! Thanks for the compliments on LeBron's 2020 ring/Finals MVP, jordon extremist alt. :applause:

[BigShotBob]

So you're saying that LeGOATest won in an environment where 80-90%% of players played better than they usually do and the other 10-20% percent played as well as usual?
Great! Thanks for the compliments on LeBron's 2020 ring/Finals MVP, jordon extremist alt. :applause:

The heat were missing 2 out of their 3 best players and their best player played injured

[TheGoatest]

The heat were missing 2 out of their 3 best players and their best player played injured

The Heat had all of their players in 2 games of the finals and went 0-2 in those 2 games.

The Lakers were missing their 3rd best player in the first round and missing a starting 5 player throughout the entire 2020 playoffs.

They still won, with LeBron as the Finals MVP. :banana:

[ImKobe]

The Heat had all of their players in 2 games of the finals and went 0-2 in those 2 games.

The Lakers were missing their 3rd best player in the first round and missing a starting 5 player throughout the entire 2020 playoffs.

They still won, with LeBron as the Finals MVP. :banana:

Dragic played 14 minutes in Game 1, Bam played 21 minutes. Neither looked the same after returning later in the series. Bran chucked his way to a FMVP and froze out MVP Davis.

[ImKobe]

So you're saying that LeGOATest won in an environment where 80-90%% of players played better than they usually do and the other 10-20% percent played as well as usual?
Great! Thanks for the compliments on LeBron's 2020 ring/Finals MVP, jordon extremist alt. :applause:

Not all of them, but it certainly helped a lot of guys who would usually struggle on the road and the rest certainly helped injury-prone players like Bran, who don't have the endurance to play a full season.

[TheGoatest]

Not all of them, but it certainly helped a lot of guys who would usually struggle on the road and the rest certainly helped injury-prone players like Bran, who don't have the endurance to play a full season.

LeBron missed 3 games in the 2019-20 season, prior it was put on ice due to Covid.
The team everyone was talking about beating the Lakers all season long had Kawhi miss 13 games and Paul George miss 22 up to that point.
Who did the rest help again?

[ImKobe]

LeBron missed 3 games in the 2019-20 season, prior it was put on ice due to Covid.
The team everyone was talking about beating the Lakers all season long had Kawhi miss 13 games and Paul George miss 22 up to that point.
Who did the rest help again?

Bran and AD have both failed to stay healthy in the 2nd half of the season after that bubble run. The season got shut down in March so they still had a lot of games to go before the POs. Instead, they got 5 months rest and played a shortened season.

I highly doubt they make that same run without the rest. They still could have won it all and it would have been an amazing season but the long break and the no fans/no travel part ruined it. It's not their fault but it will be taken into account when we look back on that season historically, given their injury history in LA.

[TheGoatest]

Bran and AD have both failed to stay healthy in the 2nd half of the season after that bubble run. The season got shut down in March so they still had a lot of games to go before the POs. Instead, they got 5 months rest and played a shortened season.

I highly doubt they make that same run without the rest. They still could have won it all and it would have been an amazing season but the long break and the no fans/no travel part ruined it. It's not their fault but it will be taken into account when we look back on that season historically, given their injury history in LA.

You may "doubt" all you like, but the Lakers had everything going for them that season up to the pause, including avoiding injuries. Even with AD, who had one of his healthiest seasons in his career.

The fact of the matter is that they were playing their very best basketball of the season right before the season was suspended. The two teams considered to be their rivals - the Clippers and Bucks had beaten them in their first meetings and all they had to hear about is how their #1 seed record was due to beating weak opponents, etc.. Then right before the Covid pause they had beaten both the Clippers and the Bucks, comfortably in two huge statement games. And let's not forget that they also ended up missing Avery Bradley, who started 44 of the 49 games he played for the Lakers that season, because he chose not to play in the bubble.

As a LeBron hater, you should actually be grateful for the bubble, because in the end all the bubble did was take away the regular season MVP award away from LeBron.

LeBron's stats in the 60 regular season games prior to the bubble:
25.7 ppg on .498
7.9 rpg
10.6 apg

LeBron's stats in the 7 final regular season games in the bubble:
22.0 ppg on .449¨
7.4 rpg
6.9 apg

The MVP race between LeBron and Giannis was very close prior to the bubble and LeBron's stock was rising. But seeing as the rest (rust) completely ruined his flow, which he had to regain due to his age, his numbers plummeted in the bubble, whereas the much younger Giannis and his fresher legs didn't miss a beat. He ended up averaging 27.8 ppg on .626, 12.2 rpg and 4.2 apg in his final 6 regular season games in the bubble and secured the MVP award.

[Axe]

Giannis didn't even win a championship the two times he was awarded league mvp. Are you saying kong should have gotten that over him instead of a championship?

[TheGoatest]

Giannis didn't even win a championship the two times he was awarded league mvp. Are you saying kong should have gotten that over him instead of a championship?

I'm saying that if that season wasn't put on hold, LeBron would probably have had his 5th MVP and his 3rd MVP/championship/Finals MVP trifecta season.

The Lakers record in the 63 regular season games prior to the bubble: 49-14 (.778 winning percentage)
The Lakers record in the 8 regular season games in the bubble: 3-5 (.375 winning percentage - more than twice as low)

The jordon extremist alts have no arguments, aside from non-sensical circle-jerk trolling, as usual of course.

[Axe]

Which seemed to have happened the very first season he got both ad and frank vogel into the team? Ah ok.

[1987_Lakers]

Tell that to Danny Green who was beyond horrific for the Lakers.

Funny how this post got ignored.

[Gohan]

if you deny the bubble ring was the easiest ring ever you're a lebron homer or not a real nba fan