The 2019-2020 National Basketball Association season will go down in history as one of the most Scary, Unique, Proud, Important and Longest seasons ever. To simply sum this season up in one word is pretty much impossible but using several keywords puts things in a better perspective and gives a lot more detail. The first word that comes to my mind is scary, and that of course is because of Covid-19 aka The Coronavirus. The worldwide pandemic that not only brought this league to a halt but also shut down sports leagues around the world. It also took the lives of many people including the mother of Karl Anthony-Towns.
The 2019-20 season was full of surprises which included playing in a Bubble because of the pandemic. Along with the bubble there were virtual fans introduced, which was a hit for the NBA. Photo courtesy of CBS Sports
Once the NBA was able to come back it did so in the form of the NBA bubble down in Orlando, Florida. This of course ushers in the next word I would use to describe this season….unique. Never before has the NBA used a format mostly used by AAU basketball to finish the regular season, conduct the playoffs and crown an NBA champion but here it was with all the rules, regulations and restrictions to keep the players safe and for the most part it did just that. Now it wasn’t flawless by any means as we did have a small incident where Rajon Rondo‘s brother had to be ejected from the bubble crowd after getting into a heated exchange with Russell Westbrook, a little more serious situation where Daniel House had to leave the bubble for violation of its rules concerning guest, and finally the silly ordeal involving Lou Williams and his quick trip to the strip club which became known as “Titties over titles”. Now all of this and more happens every year in normal NBA seasons I’m sure but under the microscope of the NBA bubble it all got blown up even bigger.
The Bubble season was very important for social and racial Justice reform. Players wore slogans that represented injustice and racial inequalities. Much respect to the NBA for doing that. Photo courtesy of NY Times
After all of that action on and off the court it then brings me to the word Important, which is what the social justice awareness was to me, the players, and all of the fans. The way the NBA handled everything really showed how the NFL dropped the ball on the same issues. The players and fans showed unity after George Floyd, Breona Taylor and many others who were fatal victims of racial and social injustice. To see Black Lives Matter, I can’t breathe, Justice, Respect Us and many other demands for equality on the back of jerseys was inspiring. I was also inspired to use another keyword in Proud. I was proud of how the players came together and boycotted play along with the Milwaukee Bucks after the serious incident in Wisconsin. To hear from players reps like Chris Paul and others saying they spoke with each other, their families and former President Barack Obama before making a decision to play again to me showed they are aware and reminded us at home that life is bigger than basketball.
The NBA were able to avoid Covid-19 outbreaks because of a number of factors. For one, they maintained proper scocial distancing protocols. Photo courtesy of Forbes.com
I couldn’t end this article without actually writing about basketball itself. In what was the longest season ever we saw The Denver Nuggets solidify their spot in the west, the Raptors show they can compete without Kawhi Leonard and the Bucks and Clippers fall way short of preseason expectations. The Miami Heat shocked everyone by making it to the NBA finals before running into the eventual world champion, Los Angeles Lakers. Anthony Davis and Lebron James will prove to be a lot to handle next season as they go for a repeat, but that will be addressed in my season preview article coming soon.
