The COVID-19 pandemic eliminated so many opportunities that people have for a true face-to-face connection. Weddings were canceled, restaurants closed, bars were unable to serve. The meeting places were made off limits.
In the NBA it meant keeping players away from teammates and friends, with the team’s facilities temporarily closed due to league mandates not to congregate.
There’s irony, then, in the fact that the campus that created the NBA is actually giving back some of that. Despite its social distancing rules and health protocols, the NBA bubble on the Disney World campus is giving players a chance to see their old friends and reconnect in ways they have rarely been able to do since the pandemic began.
“It is a drug because it literally is the hoop and its children, so it is really refreshing,” said Lakers guard JR Smith. “Get to see people, see how people are, see how their families are. You listen to a lot of things and social media is so vast. So many things you see and things happen, flying that you don’t have the opportunity to have the opportunity to value those relationships that you grew up with. ”
For Smith, that means spending time with Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, who he played AAU with. Follow Lowry on Instagram and comment on his posts, but hearing directly from him about the family is different.
Even when he used to see Lowry on road trips, it wasn’t always possible to catch up. Trips often include just one night in a city.
“There are so many things that you finally have a chance to catch up,” Smith said.
The bubble atmosphere has also given the rest of the Lakers a chance to meet Smith and Dion Waiters, their new additions.
“We haven’t been close to them,” said Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. “It gives us the opportunity to be close to them and [see] how they interact and what their personality is like. Just being teammates really, at the end of the day. Just make jokes, remain our normal self, and let them know that they can be themselves, too. “
The Lakers will be staying at the Coronado Springs Resort Grand Destination Tower at Disney World, as will the Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Miami Heat and Raptors.
As much fun as they are having it now, there is a chance that things will get awkward.
“It’s going to be a little bit different when the games start playing and it should be when that starts happening,” said Lakers forward Jared Dudley. “A team is down in the series and you might see them on the elevator and see it, so they may need to add a little bit more security shortly.”
For now, however, they are appreciating the novelty of the situation.
“You see boys you went to college with, boys you grew up idolizing with, boys you grew up playing with and against,” Lakers guard Quinn Cook said. “So it’s a great experience.”
