Can We PLEASE Be Serious About The 2020 NBA Bubble... 

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The year after the bubble year should be viewed as the more “flawed or bubble” year because it was one of the shortest off seasons in sports history which practically gasses every team who went deep into the bubble into the next season

What people don’t realize is that there could’ve been no pandemic basketball to begin with. That’s the reason I don’t really get people who try to de-value the bubble, we could’ve missed out on basketball altogether during those times. The league did the best they could under the circumstances, and it was a pretty good job too.

The bubble is where the nuggets showed the world that they were ready for a ring. Injuries delayed that.

I agree that this title is especially weird, but I think that the Nuggets back to back 3-1 comebacks are definitely valid. I only disagree with how it's discussed since it's not the bubble that made a healthy Kawhi and Paul George choke three consecutive games, the Nuggets deserve all of the credit for that.

8:25 Arguing that the Nuggets somehow had an advantage being in the Bubble instead of their actual home court to explain them coming back down 3-1 twice doesn't make any sense to me. They're the ones who lost out of having a beneficial home court advantage in my opinion. The numbers back this up.

The bubble counts. All that matters 💍🏆

I dont really think to myself that asterisks in the way people talk about them exist. Every single championship in nba history was affected by injury, lockouts or some major factor that could've altered how the finals played out. The bubble to me was as weird as it sounds one of my favorite forms of basketball to watch because it was just hooping at the highest level and it got so many of my favorite players paid because of how they hooped. It extended the careers of many nba players and it was in a sense a blessing to players who suffered injuries like Steph, KD, and Kyrie. I could've only imagined what KD Curry and Kyrie wouldve done in the bubble, probably have some 50 bombs in the playoffs, but from the way I see it, if all teams are on an equal playing field, it should simply come down to the better team winning. The bubble to me also put into perspective just how damn good nba players are. Without any fans or any external distractions just hooping i saw what happens when literally hooping was these players lives for three months. I do get that its the furthest from healthy for the mental and i understand why pg said it was hard for him to play but just the level of basketball was so high.

I never understood this narrative. We're talking about a season where players had plenty of time to rest and then get back to game speed. We didn't have any superteams, just superstar duos. The teams were healthy and rested, home court advantage wasn't a thing so it just came down to getting the W. I think all the hate about this ring is only happening because LeBron and the Lakers won it. If ANY other team had won, the narratives and storylines would be very different. In my opinion, this is on paper the most balanced playoffs we have ever witnessed and the best team won. No major injuries, no fatigue, no home court advantages or distractions, just pure basketball.

Even before the Lakers made the finals that year, people were trying real hard to say they wouldn't even make it Portland Trailblazers: Greatest 8th seed of all time Houston Rockets: NBA 2K 5-out offense with PJ Tucker at center. Denver Nuggets: Comeback kids possibly pulling a 3rd straight 3-1 comeback.

The bubble was awesome, Dom2k makes excellent points about the lack of crowd atmosphere but it was amazing to watch well rested athletes, with no travel time play at the highest levels. If you actually watched the games you know

That slo-mo LeBron layup to start this video was beautiful 🥹

facts. Curry wouldve been deep fried for winning a bubble ring

Danny Green, who won multiple championships with Spurs and Raptors, said that the bubble championship was the hardest one by far.

I called the Heat going to the finals in 2020. People thought I was crazy. I told them the bench was as good as the starting line up and teams didn't know what to do with them. I saw how Jimmy B took practices and improving seriously and how it trickled down the line up. No other team took basketball as seriously as they did.

That was some of the best basketball I’ve seen played. No distractions just hoop

Everyone played in the same conditions, it’s not the most valuable ring but the Lakers were one of the best teams in the league that season and carried it into the bubble. Would’ve been the same result regardless of where they played.

Only haters think the bubble ring isnt a valid championship

Dom didn’t really go into why there was always going to be an asterisk. He didn’t really present a list of reasons. He mentioned lack of playoff atmosphere and extended break. This discussion is also unique to the NBA. The NHL also had a similar playoff situation and there is not a fraction of the narrative around the Tampa Bay Lightning stanley cup compared to the Lakers Larry Obrien

Appreciate the honesty. Nobody that likes basketball couldn't see the nuggets coming. Again, appreciate the honesty.

people really try to act like the basketball played in the bubble wasnt real solely because lebron won it 😭 these haters bro

Ayyyyyy new Dom videooooo

I loved the bubble man. Still do plus im nostalgic now

I really like your content,keep it up

Couldn't win with 3s until Golden State did it. Denver could've won outside down 3-1. It can't happen, until it inevitably does.

All NBA championships have an asterisk in my book, so all players are ringless to me. Bunch of frauds with Mickey Mouse "world" championships.

not to mention that the heat weren't healthy, heat's 2nd and 3rd best players multiple missed games

Great video

I believe that the exclusions of certain players (through testing or worried about transmission) made this title a non-starter for me no matter who won it.

Nice vid dom

I just refuse to agree that an NBA competition were everyone was cut off from any outside contact in the world. And not allowed to leave UNLESS they lost. Where multiple staff, and players didn't attend. Inside a hotel basketball gym is just a legitimate ring in comparison to every other one.

I’m ngl to you Dom, in 2020, I didn’t know what he would become, but I knew he was one of the best passing bigs ever. Me and my friend had a bet he’d never average over 24 PPG or win MVP! Glad I chose joke

Laughed out of Disney lol

The only problem with this argument is despite ppls opinions at the time the nuggets and heat actually were just that good as we now know. It seems like it’s like oh the nuggets randomly made the wcf then had to get better before they could go on another real run, but ppl forget that this playoffs has been the first playoffs Jamal Murray actually played in since the bubble

"The cavs n kings finals" sounds like a great series imo 😂 definitely a few years premature tho

Absolutely. If Curry had won in the bubble. Folks would talk crap on him just as much. After they just won 2 with KD, they discount 2015 cause Kyrie got injured.. if he won this 'discounted' chip, man they would talk so much stuff about him, like they still do now, even tho he earned his chips, if you actually look at it, especially the last one. We know what Rich Paul is doing. I would only say the bubble was hard, only in the fact, that you basically playing on a neutral court, so there was no crowd noise to effect anything.

I genuinely think if any team aside from Lebron’s won in the bubble, nobody would talk shit about it at all, or if they did it would be way fewer people. I also think that the Bucks would’ve come back down 3-0 against the Heat is Giannis hadn’t gotten hurt.

I remember me throwing my crazy idea that the NBA at the time should I have been a lockdown Battle Royale and the winner would have been guaranteed an easier schedule once basketball was back to normal. As per usual I was ridiculed for this idea. Lol

It's just a cope that all championships have a real asterisk to them. Just because something always happens doesn't mean it affects the validity. The bubble is not an asterisk. Several teams getting injured out of the playoffs is a real asterisk. Or a star player in the opposing team.

9:00 this is actually a perfect example because people still count that ring. nobody discredits it because its dumb to discredit championships.

Let’s face it they only brought basketball back to give the lakers the title. If the lakers were last place when play stopped, returning wouldn’t of been a topic they would have scrapped the season.

The bubble was some of the best basketball we'd seen in years, anyone who disagrees is lying. If Steph won they'd praise him for it, if the nuggets went on to comeback from 3-1 against the Lakers, go to the finals, and closeout the playoffs with a ring it'd be considered the greatest championship ever. The Lakers were WELL on pace to win before the pandemic hit, the fact that they went on to win was an expected outcome for many people. The Heat, Nuggets, Lakers, and Celtics were all the same teams that made the conference finals in 2020, those same 3 team made the conference finals 3 years later. Even if you want to say those teams are different, is it just a coincidence? Who's to say that wouldn't have happened in a normal playoff setting? Playoff atmosphere isn't what NBA fans make it out to be, playoffs atmosphere has to do with the pressure and stress of win a championship, not what John in row 2 wrote on his homemade sign. That fact that Denver did what they did isn't a product of the bubble, its a product of other teams not being ready for the moment. Real competitors compete regardless of the circumstances, which is why some players didn't care about winning in the bubble, because they're not real competitors. Also speaking of Miami, 15 games into the season i had them as my pick to come out of the East, that held up all year, and nd guess who won the East, Miami. Is that just a coincidence? Did I just make a lucky guess? Saying those things wouldn't have happened in a "normal" playoff setting is ridiculous, and you can't prove with any fact based evidence to show it wouldn't have. You said yourself that 3-1 combacks have only happened 13 times in NBA history, which only proves how rare it is to do so, the fact that it happened in the bubble means nothing. In all of NBA history, only 1 team has ever done so in the finals, doesn't that mean it will never happen again? Maybe, its statistically unlikely, but its not impossible, and there's no basis to state that it can't. The same way there's no basis to suggest 2 3-1 combacks in the same playoffs wouldn't have happened outside of the bubble. You as well as everyone knows why 2020 gets as much hate as it does, and its not because of the bubble, it's because of the outcome.

That was such a crazy time for basketball. That finals run the heat had was when I think we realized they were legitimate

I like that Dom described it as a setup. Screwed if you do, screwed if you don't. Unwarranted criticism for the circumstances if you win, criticism if you lose. What are you supposed to do, though? Lose? It sucks but the bubble did not disappoint those who actually watched it.

This got tanked in the algorithm,didn’t even see this got posted

I enjoyed the bubble because we got to see the best play without distractions

rings are rings if u keep winning the noise will die down.

The heat, after the bubble were able to go the conference finals and to the nba championship in consecutive years. When the nuggets finally got healthy they instantly won. If anything seeing these 2 teams succeed post-bubble should add more legitimacy to the 2020 championship.

Cavs shade wont be tolerated

every team played in the same conditions I DONT WANNA HEAR SHIT

This guy dom loves being right 😭😭

He trying to get a raise 🤣🤣🤣 with this statement

ALL FACTS

Great to see you land the Promo Dom! My fav NBA story teller on NBA RU-vid.

#GuruBasketballKieroSays i always believed that although no fans, the main hate for the Bubble Championship is because LeBron and the Lakers won it. They still gave us the trophy. We still hung up a banner in STAPLES Center

You gonna link that original video you said you'd link in the video? I am curious to see it again

Bro it’s been almost 5 years 😂

A chip is a CHIP. Lakers will forever be the champs of that year.

All im saying is that 3 years later the same teams that went to the conference finals were back so maybe the bubble was legit. Also people seem to forget that lakers where cooking this season before the shut down and Bron put a stamp on it when he beat the Clippers and Bucks

it was as an even setting for all teams, and the better and more disciplined team won.

I don't wanna be that guy, but the thumbnail had me thinking "Curry would shoot 60% without fans lmao". If the people were right about the pressure getting to him, imagine how he'd be with most of the pressure taken off.

You can say the bubble was harder or easier all you want, but having no fans make it different than every championship ever. Still counts but different ….

I want to say yes to the point about the Nuggets not coming back 3-1 twice but idk especially watching that in real time the Clippers simply were having a generational choke job which i think would’ve happened bubble or not however i do see how fans could be a big debating factor for that especially game momentum and things of that nature

2k needs to add the bubble as a option to play on

Drop a new 3 kings of my series 😭🤝 series was a classic

I've said that since day one: whoever won the bubble was gonna have an asterisk next to their banner

I’m just pissed I had to wait even longer to watch my warriors again

It may have to do with people also just not being fond of that time in history. A lot of people were scared and depressed so those negative feelings associated with the year could tarnish the championship for reasons having nothing to do with it. Subconsciously.

The bubble final 4 have legitimately proven they have been the best since 2020 barring injuries. If anything, the 2021 season is the question mark. Bucks, Hawks and Clippers, Suns being the final 4 with the shortest off season ever is highly questionable

People either view it as the most flawed ever because it was the most different. Or they’re gonna view it as the hardest because it was the most different.

I TOLD EVERYBODY ABOUT DAME TO THE BUCKS TWO YEARS AGO

Remember when TJ Warren put up Jordan numbers in the bubble for like a week? Pepperidge farms remembers

Bro the bubble also reminds me of the year the warriors fell off. Idk if it’s just me but the year curry n klay we’re out it kinda felt off. It didn’t feel normal that they were out. It kind of gave us a glimpse of how the league will be whenever curry, klay, n draymond retire. Who’s gonna take over now?

Fucking hell, this is just 10 minutes 45 seconds of straight fucking FACTS, one of your best (remove the ad time actually; 10 minutes)

I remember predicting conference finals Bos-Mia and LAL-Lac, but having Clippers and Boston in Finals. We all know how that ended. MIA beating Bucks wasn't surprise for me, but Denver beating Clippers was.

I feel like way too much basketball discourse in national media is centred around the goat debate and it’s exhausting. It’s creators like Dom who talk about everything from mini docs on moments in history, player stories and regular season bardershop talk that keep the nba and its history interesting. Respect.

It's the best tournament the NBA will ever have. It happened in a vacuum. The talent was naked in its display and unadulterated by chants in the stands. No home or away advantage... As an Australian NBA fan I will always treasure it.

It's already said and done so I really don't matter it happened

All I’m saying is before it happened people was saying it’s an equal playing field and whoever wins earned it, but once they saw who the finals was and who won it people switched it. How everyone or atleast most people (including me) had clippers winning and I can say most had bucks coming out the east, they both lost in the 2nd round and some how that’s discredit what the lakers did from what o have heard.

It was more competitive like them just in a gym playing their hearts out. It wasnt "easier".

Maybe it’s just me but I don’t think people would’ve downplayed curry is he won the bubble ring as much as they downplay lebron because curry actually got a ring after the bubble, if bron got a ring after the bubble people wouldn’t make it seem like it was easy or a fluke

Idc what nobody says Anthony Davis wouldn’t have made it through that season without that break in between That was just the rest he needed to power through playoffs

Wait…. Who the hell said the heat signing Jimmy was a bad contract?? I don’t remember that at all??

The battle of LA is gon happen this year. Clips vs Lakers in conference finals. What we were supposed To get 3 years ago is gon happen this year. It might not be as fair tho

NBA equivalent of “truth is, the game was rigged from the start”

The problem is it was a finals that should never of happened

I respect it more than the 2021 championship shi had so many injuries during the playoffs

Raptors back to back with Kawhi no questions asked

Lakers lost their homecourt advantage so whoever discredits his bubble title is irrelevant. And I know that 3 years ago, Miami and Denver wasn't all that hyped up, but isn't this year's finals meeting also proves that they're a legit title contenders? Cause if we're not hearing anything about the 99 spurs, that is because they've proven they're legit, so it should also mean that those teams are legit since they proved after 2 seasons that they can compete for a title. The only reason they didn't in 2021 is because they were unhealthy. Sick of having the Lakers, Denver, Miami getting disrespected for the bubble since the most hated baller in history won that competition.

Disney title 😂

To say the bubble championship doesn’t count is disingenuous yes. The the flip argument of that, that the bubble championship is the hardest championship of all time is hall of fame dickriding we all know that’s not true at all

That season was going to be one of the best seasons of all time, and then the bubble happened was and it was great, except for Russia and harden injuries and inconsistencies

The empty arena woulda felt weird, just hearing EVERYTHING

maybe Denver doesn't need to come down from 3-1 down lol... ever think of that? to say back to back 3-1 comebacks haven't happened isn't a fair way to discredit the bubble

The 2023 Cavs and the 2023 Kings have not a player like Jimmy or Nikola, even using the consideration of Nikola and Jimmy we had back in 2020

You are right the only reason people still talk about it is because it was Lebron that won. But it comes with the territory of being a top 5 player of all time and one that was deemed the next MJ. I do think if anyone other than Lebron won it or Steph/Khawi/Durant it would be thought of even less amongst the common fans.

As much as people clown the bubble, it gave us one of the more entertaining and exciting postseasons we’ve seen in a long time and arguably better than the last couple postseasons.

They played 72/82 games. Almost a full season and yet people make it seem like they barely played any. It was harder because no home court advantage so imo I think the lakers got a more legit title than the raptors did in 2019

Wouldn't no crowd make it naturally easier too score???

Matisse thybulle definitely carried the bubble era with his vlogs