Kyrie Irving was absolutely right about the NBA bubble

Kyrie Irving was right. The doubts, the meetings with players, his concern that playing in Orlando would take away from the critical work needed to reform social justice – everything that turned out to be true. Two months since Irving raised concerns about playing in the league’s Disney bubble, players went on strike Wednesday to resume focusing on violence being pursued by police for black people.

Irving, one of the vice presidents of the NBAPA, thought the bubble was a bad idea. His problems with the concept were largely described as frivolous. Adrian Wojnarowski characterized Irving as a “disruptor” throughout the process, and sought to undermine the NBA’s plans to resume play when he asked whether players should resume the season and put the social justice reform on the back burner.

“There’s significant support to resume the season among the league’s superstars – most of whom are on the playoffs – and Irving seems to be enjoying the clash.”

Minimizing Irving’s worries was unfair. It revolved around real, tangible concerns about Irving’s plea for a united front, in little more than questions about food quality and amenities during a stay in Orlando. Kyrie tried not to ruin the fun of the league, he pressured players to question the motivations behind the bubble.

Irving was one of the league’s loudest voices after the death of George Floyd, and it’s clear that forcing players to consider whether the NBA bubble would take the problem away raises doubts among some players.

“Once we start playing basketball again, the news of systemic racism will turn to whoever did something in yesterday’s game. It’s a crucial time for us to play that and mix and influence what happens in it. our communities, “one widely respected NBA player told ESPN. “We ask ourselves, ‘Where and how can we make the biggest impact?’ Mental health is also part of the discussion, and how we treat it all in a bubble. “

Those concerns were all made manifest. Talk did go from systemic racism to the results of games. Paul George spoke publicly about the toll on mental health of isolated and only with basketball alone to break the monotony. George Hill of the Bucks said he felt he could not influence Orlando after the shooting of Jacob Blake.

“We would be honest not to even come to this damn place,” Hill said shortly after Blake’s shooting.

If the only thing the country had to deal with was the Covid-19 pandemic, the bell would have been a necessary diversion. Instead, the violence of spring and summer proved that we needed focus, not diversion. While the idea of ​​playing basketball and increasing the movement of Black Lives Matter was good in theory, there is now little doubt that isolating players in Orlando away from their communities refused critical groundwork that had to occur.

Although protesters have found a way to make their voices heard. Striking in the bubble deprives the world of basketball. This deprivation re-focused on the collective consciousness of a nation and forced those who would all escape to consider the far more important issues than NBA games.

“All in all, his questions did not have significant consequences,” Wojnarowski said of Irving’s concerns about the start of the NBA bubble. Now they are. They can not be ignored, and in retrospect minimizing Irving’s very real worries about taking down social justice issues and confusing them with logistical concerns was clearly unfair.