This is the first regular-season game for the OKC Thunder since March 11th and it happened to be against the Utah Jazz. The NBA postponed after Rudy Gobert was the first player to have a positive result for Covid-19. Everyone in the NBA was waiting for this game to come back around and it happened today 4 months later. Players and coaches have been waiting to get this game going because this is where it ended. Both teams kneeled during the National Anthem today and showcased their social injustice messages. The OKC Thunder came into this game 3-0 after the scrimmage games and they didn’t stop today. This Thunder team is playing with the utmost confidence and they looked unbeatable on both ends of the floor. Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put the Thunder on their back early as they set the tone. Chris Paul looked really good out there as he was able to create offense for himself and others. CP3 put his leadership on full display as he was able to put up 18 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds on the night. CP3 pretty much had the Utah Jazz defenders on a string as he was able to get to his spots all day and it didn’t matter if Rudy Gobert was there or not. Chris Paul has shown that he’s still got a lot of game left in the tank and it’s clear that his vision/playmaking ability won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
One thing that’s for sure with CP3 is that he’s been rubbing off on his teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who’s been emerging as one of the best young talents in this league. This is Shai’s second season in the NBA but his game is as smooth as a veteran. Today the Utah Jazz were able to see the growth and maturity in Shai’s game as he finished with 19 points and 6 assists. Some of the moves that Shai put on display vs Utah were extremely smooth and he was able to get by Rudy Gobert a couple of times. The Thunder focused on attacking the paint and they went right at the DPOY Rudy Gobert all day. The Thunder are playing with a lot of confidence right now that allows them to play with a lot of chemistry. Steven Adams was the best big on the floor tonight as he finished with a double-double 16 points and 11 rebounds. Adams was able to defend at a high level and was able to help the Thunder dominate all phases of the game.
It was a full team effort against Utah and they were able to slow down Donovan Mitchell today. The defense of Lu Dort on Mitchell won’t be on the stat sheet but he was all over Mitchell from the tip as he held him to 13 points on 5/15 from the field. Dort wasn’t able to add too much on the offensive end but he made up for it with his job on Mitchell. It seemed that the Utah Jazz wasn’t ready for the Thunder rush that hit them from the jump. The Jazz did play against the Pelicans already so that was their second game but still this is the NBA so no excuses. The Jazz has been struggling since losing Bojan Bogdanović and they’re trying to find a true rhythm in the offense. The Thunder have a roster full of 3&D ballhawks who don’t really give you a chance to do anything without them being pests. The Jazz just didn’t have it and they were behind the Thunder from the tipoff and couldn’t get within 20 points throughout the game. Jordan Clarkson was an instant offense in the game against the Pelicans but he wasn’t able to do that today and that hurt them. This probably won’t be the last time these two teams meet up but if it is the Thunder have the tiebreaker and they’ve had the Utah Jazz’s number all season.
The OKC Thunder play against the Denver Nuggets on Monday at 3 pm as they look to move up in position. OKC’s undefeated in Orlando and they look to be playing with a lot of chemistry right now which isn’t good for the league.
After joining forces in February, Fayetteville rapper J.Cole and legendary sneaker brand PUMA are poised to release the rapper’s debut basketball sneaker. Entitled the RS-Dreamer, the silhouette is testament to perseverance and hard work. First spotted in a more muted black and white colorway during the 2020 NBA All-Star weekend, the Dreamville MC’s kicks have since been spotted on PUMA hoopers like Danny Green and Kyle Kuzma in the NBA bubble. Since PUMA’s return to basketball courts, PUMA has been snatching up stars left and right and with the RS-Dreamer PUMA has completely revitalized their basketball line.
☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️DREAMER☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️ Thank you og @MasterPMiller 🙏🏿
Design-wise, the silhouette sports a low-profile cut with a mesh upper construction. Hints of suede pop on the forefoot and near the ankle. Exposed stitching on the midfoot connects to a cord lacing system that wraps around the heel held down by a series of reflective loops. Reflective hints also appear on the heel tab and near the suede forefoot overlay. Though the reflective portions themselves are enough to turn heads, the RS foam midsole is the real draw, the colorful and curved midsole features textured portions and splashes of yellow, red, purple, and mint. Cole’s Dreamer logo appears on the heel to finish off this new silhouette.
The PUMA RS-Dreamer launches on 7/31 for $125. Catch it on puma.com
Before this article starts jotting down the path of events leading up to the league’s resumption in chronological order, do me a favor. Breathe a sigh of relief tonight as you wind down and turn on your television set, tuning into the TNT network to see everyone’s favorite TV uncles in Shaq, Ernie Johnson, Chuck, and Kenny.
For your patience, you, the reader, have surely earned the treat of witnessing professional basketball on a Turner Broadcasting network again in 2020, for the opportunity to view something so taken for granted in previous times will serve as such a saving grace and distracting agent from what’s going on in the country and world.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020. A date lathered in infamy. The day the world stopped turning, for all basketball fans.
Ticket sales postponed and Mass evacuations of stadiums in mere minutes, with the league’s tumultuous mountains being tectonically shifted by one tweet:
“The National Basketball Association will suspend its season, effective immediately.”
The numbness and uncertainty of sports returning in full force was felt in a variety of ways amongst all franchises, and more questions arose than prominent answers. For a season that is so narrowed down to its final several weeks, just what was to happen to playoff-qualifying organizations if the year was to be canned altogether? And, will we ever return to a shroud of normalcy that includes fans at some point (when it’s safe)?
It took 141 days to come up with that definitive answer. But we can say it with confidence now: The NBA is BACK.
In the time-lapse of four months, we’d never expect hoops to be back in the extent of a socially-distant bubble in Orlando, Florida, and Commissioner Adam Silver should be first in line to receive some of the good words on his work to keep the wheels rolling on such a climactic NBA season that no one wanted to see abolished abruptly.
It’s been a long road to get here, so take a trip down memory lane, chronicling the timeline from the start of the suspension to the first tip-off tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET on TNT, as well as documenting our experiences as NBA fans and beat writers of the game here at Sneaker Reporter.
March 11: During the afternoon of March 11, multiple media outlets commented on the cheeky, foolish behavior of Jazz center Rudy Gobert as the French Rejection decided to make a mockery of the oncoming COVID-19 pandemic crisis by patting several recording devices and phones owned by interviewers during a press conference, only to test positive for the Coronavirus. That ensuing night, medical officials run onto the hardwood of the Chesapeake Energy Arena with pace, urgently persuading coaches and referees to cancel the contest between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder, for fear of Utah’s infection possibility of the Thunder if they were to play them in a 60-minute game. They comply and tell the multitudinous crowd inside the ‘Peake to leave in an orderly manner.
That night, ripples were felt throughout the league as everyone who received the news on their mobile devices inside arenas across the country registered what could probably be impending doom as it related to their favorite team’s 2019-20 campaign. During ESPN’s broadcast of a Dallas Mavericks home game, lead commentator Ryan Ruocco and color commentator Doris Burke sign off for what would be the “last time in a while” in their words.
From a worldly perspective, spectator sports had been put on the backburner as professional soccer leagues shuttered fans from their stadiums as their athletic competitions continued.
The second slot of primetime action after Dallas’ home victory featured the Kings and Pelicans, and as follows, the league decided to postpone that game too. The suspension was enforced just an hour later.
March 19: Media members and fans alike speculated whether or not if players can stay prepared for a potential resumption with practice facilities still being open up until the eighth day of the season’s suspension. Then, commissioner Silver decided that cleaning protocols were too cloudy to sort out, so further action to close all team facilities was taken. Players would have to find different ways to get shots up, while also keeping their conditioning in check.
Also, a bunch of players took to social media to flex their editing (and dance) skills with a plethora of “Tik Tok” videos. Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Grizzlies rookie guard Ja Morant, Sixers rookie forward Matisse Thybulle and many others got rid of their boredom with creative short clips of them going viral performing signature dance routines or flashy edits popularized by the app.
As a result of this time at home during the nationwide quarantine, ESPN took the initiative to start up an NBA 2K Player’s Tournament, which was won by Phoenix suns star guard Devin Booker. Following that 2K tournament, ESPN decided to keep the live entertainment angle going with a tournament of the shooting game H.O.R.S.E., which was split into two weeks with the winner being Ohio native Mike Conley Jr. of the Utah Jazz.
April breezes by, and fans and players both question ESPN and ABC’s scheduling of Michael Jordan’s “The Last Dance” docuseries, which detailed the 1997-98 season of the soon-to-be three-peating dynasty known as the Chicago Bulls, which was set for release in June after when the NBA Finals was initially supposed to happen. Even LeBron James pleaded the television network to give fans the documentary early, considering that we didn’t have much else to do. And so, they caved in.
Little tidbits of history concealed for nearly 22 years were released to the public, and this ten-part documentary was enjoyed by its viewers as if it was a regular sporting event. So much so, that The Last Dance was the most viewed sports documentary in the history of the broadcasting company.
April 29: All the questions about the possibilities surrounding a return to play were rocketed with a brand new argument put on the table: an isolated bubble in a secluded area to limit contraction of the coronavirus. Of course, this met criticism at first as this meant players would have to leave the safety of their homes to travel to an undisclosed location to continue their season. There wasn’t even a destination concrete enough for the bubble’s location.
But, lo and behold, Adam Silver rounded up all of his prospect cities, studied the cases of COVID-19 in each town, and boiled the debate into two destinations: Las Vegas and Orlando.
May 8: Chris Paul, the president of the National Basketball Players’ Association, held a joint meeting – er, Zoom call – with commissioner Silver pertaining to the comfortability levels of the players if they were to be on board with getting back to playing the game they love.
Just like every other major decision that is made, skepticism still raced through the minds of players who were concerned with not just their safety, but the safety of the families of these athletes. Ultimately, the leaders of the NBPA, Commissioner Silver and the NBA Board of Governors reached a general consensus that said players wanted to keep the seasonal ship from sinking, deciding to finish the season and postseason if proper health protocols were to be carried out.
May 20: Orlando is confirmed to be the bubble sight of the resumed season, with a return date TBA. While there was a flurry of prognosticators who wanted this season canceled due to the worldwide health threat, optimism grew like a rose in the spring the moment Adam Silver got the confirmation to keep the season going inside a secluded part of Florida. And where would there resumed season commence? In none other than the “Greatest Place on Earth”, Walt Disney World, and specifically at the ESPN Wide World of Sports at Disney Springs. Players wanting to chase a championship were ecstatic, while onlookers of the game on the sidelines could not wait to see their teams do exactly that.
And then, the grotesque eight minutes and 46 seconds during the afternoon of May 25th happened.
A slight misunderstanding of a minuscule counterfeit $20 bill led to the unjust murder of George Floyd on the curb of a Minnesota grocery store, inciting massive violent protests and profits of rage that ravaged the city of Minneapolis, leaving it in a boundless blaze. And whilst non-violent protests carried the truths of necessary changes to the American criminal justice system, cities across America shared in the same dismay of the state of rising fascism and authoritarian rule that’s existed over Black America for the 401 years they’ve been on the North American continent like a brooding cloud.
Players didn’t just take to social media; they took to the streets.
This time – enough was enough.
NBA stars from all teams – Jaylen Brown of the Celtics, Malcolm Brogdon of the Pacers, Kyrie Irving of the Nets, and a continuous list of players – voiced not only their displeasure of the governmental inaction to provide equal justice for the killers of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, and countless others but their viewpoints of the season’s resumption and if it really took away from the attention and the traction that the Black Lives Matter movement had profusely gained in such a diminutive amount of time.
Lakers backup center Dwight Howard stood at the forefront of the argument, saying that basketball would detract attention from what was occurring around the country.
“No basketball, until we get things resolved,” Howard said.
Many other NBA athletes agreed with the sentiment, and for a while, it seemed like there was a huge pause on a return to NBA action due to the social justice outreach of the players, who realized that the NBA product (that’s 85-90% African-American) would be a shell of itself without Black talent.
May 29: That pause would turn into a hard play, as Adam Silver shook up the sporting world with a massive “We’re Back” announcement. Silver proclaimed that hoops would (then) officially tip-off on July 31. That date would then shift to official tip-offs occurring a day earlier on July 30.
June 4: 22 teams were then announced to be confirmed as bubble entrants; the 16 playoff-qualified squads in both the East (9 teams) and West (13 teams), as well as the on-the-bubble (pun not intended) teams out West vying for the final playoff spots – New Orleans, Portland, San Antonio, Phoenix. On the Eastern side, Washington was the only non-playoff team announced to join the bubble in Orlando.
June 5: The 22-team format would get ratified and approved by the NBPA. It would essentially include three tune-up preseason games, and eight regular-season games to determine seeding for the playoffs. For the outlying teams, the ultimatum of getting within four games of the eighth seed meant a play-in tournament, where the winner gets a postseason berth.
June 23: COVID-19 testing took place as players and organizations gathered traveling parties to take the trip to Orlando. However, some players, like Lakers guard Avery Bradley, Suns forward Kelly Oubre Jr., and various Brooklyn Nets like DeAndre Jordan, Nico Claxton, Spencer Dinwiddie, Wilson Chandler, and Taurean Prince would say no to the return, meaning new players like free agent Tyler Johnson and the legendary Jamal Crawford would join forces with Caris LeVert for a new-look Nets faction. The NBA also agrees for players to wear social justice messages on the backs of their jerseys.
July 7-29: Players arrive in Orlando, and immediately get settled into their many hotel rooms on the luxurious Disney Springs property. As the NBA Bubble Life Twitter and Instagram pages documented the daily activities of the campus, which basically looked like a humongous summer camp comprised of fishing lakes, player lounges, Disney attractions, pools, golf courses, and more.
Fans got a clear glimpse of what this abridged brand of NBA Basketball would look like during scrimmages during the final week of July. Surprisingly enough, the optics and audio of the bubble were more than enough to appease the average NBA fan.
And that’s the gist of it when it comes to the return to professional play. We’re in the present day now, with the game between the Pelicans and Jazz set to tip-off in a few.
So sit back, and enjoy yourself as you palate competitive basketball that counts toward something tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET. Hoops are back. Let’s do this thing.
At the top spot, #1 we have the Los Angeles Clippers on our SneakerReporter Bubble Breakdowns. The new Clippers roster has quickly re-established themselves as a force in the Western Conference after the breakdown of Lob City years ago. The Clippers have been an organization that have struggled to progress through the NBA Playoffs, never quite making it to the Conference Finals. This may just be subject to change, now with NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and perennial All-Star Paul George having joined the team last offseason.
Although the Clippers players luckily did not encounter any issues with the Corona Virus, the Clippers will in fact be short handed upon the NBA Restart, with Patrick Beverly, Montrezl Harrell, and Lou Williams all not participating until further notice. The Clippers withheld the top spot in Bench scoring this season, and without Williams and Harrell coming off the bench, the scoring off the bench significantly drops.
I think some NBA fans have high hopes that an L.A. team will be the one to emerge from the Western Conference to play in the Finals, and as unfortunate as it sounds for other teams, their odds are arguable better than their opponents. Personally, I’d have to agree with such thoughts, it’s hard to deny Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on one team, alongside the large amount of acquisitions that the organization made throughout the season. Between Reggie Jackson, Joakim Noah, and Marcus Morris, the Clippers gained a large amount of solid players to fill for any holes that the Clippers may have. This Clippers team is very much a parallel of their Los Angeles counterparts. Both teams have a premier roster with well versed veteran presences, as well as young, up and coming players to compliment them.
Although not withholding the 1st seed in the Western Conference, the Clippers are ranked in the league 3rd in Offensive Rating and 5th in Defensive Rating. This came fairly naturally for the Clippers, having a roster comprising heavily of two-way players like Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Montrezl Harrell, Marcus Morris, and at times Patrick Beverly. During any given game, any player on this roster is susceptible of being the player who impacts the game heavily, which can be entirely frustrating for other teams because it makes defending them just as difficult as trying to score against them.
Looking Into the Bubble:
With this break in the action, although unwanted by many, was good for the Clippers, as many other teams because it gave them time to heal themselves physically and mentally. In regards to the Clippers, it was very much important because Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, who in years past, have struggled to play on a consistent basis utilizing the load management to remain healthy throughout the season. This could have quite potentially been what the Clippers needed to refuel, which in turn is a scary thought for the other teams league wide.
Like many of other higher seeded teams coming into the restart, the Clippers have no real need to compete at a level that would put themselves at risk. However, the lack of players that will be on the floor for the Clippers makes things a bit difficult, for this is a time where players need to work out the kinks of competition. The Clippers don’t necessarily have the most difficult schedule, on the bright side. They face off against their biggest competition, according to the NBA Standings, in the Lakers, today. From there, the Clippers face-off against lower seeded teams from both Eastern and Western Conferences, which possibly provide a challenge for the undermanned Clippers. Regardless of it all, the Clippers kick their NBA Restart off tonight against the Lakers, 9:00 pm ET.
The NBA season officially re-starts tomorrow as fans and players alike have been waiting for months. New signature shoes from the league’s top players will grace the hardwood. Giannis Antetokounmpo recently debuted his second signature model, the Nike Zoom Freak 2. After Nike and King James garnered much success out of the Lebron XVII, the 18th signature model was seen on James’ feet this past week for the fist time. A total of three colorways of the Lebron XVIII have been seen so far throughout numerous social media platforms.
With this being the last week before the 2019-20’s season reboot in the bubble, players are starting to really show out with their on-court footwear. Nike Kobe 5 Protros seem to be THE shoe of 2020, with Nike making too many player exclusive editions to even count. P.J. Tucker once again sported a P.E. that no one at the bubble is guaranteed to have. For Part 2 of our #BubbleKicks we simply compiled the best 20 sneakers since we made our first list. These kicks are in no particular order. Scroll through to see which P.E.’s you wish Nike would release to the public as well as new signature models making their first public appearances.
At #2 on our SneakerReporter Bubble Breakdown is the 1st seed in the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks have made trips to the Playoffs every year since 2016, and currently continues to this day, heading into the NBA Restart withholding the best record league wide going 53-12. The 2019 NBA MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo has been on a tear all season long through 57 games, average 29.6ppg, 13.7rpg, and 5.8apg.
Luckily for the organization, the entirety of the Bucks roster opted into the NBA Bubble which fully allows them to maintain their play style. Just by looking at them, it is very much apparent that the Bucks are big. There are many guys on this roster that are big with long arms with Giannis at the forefront of it all.
Despite being the 1st seeded team in the East, there are many individuals who are skeptical of the Bucks due to the past Playoff experiences, particularly last year where they made an exit in the Eastern Conference Finals against Kawhi Leonard and the 2019 NBA Champions, Toronto Raptors. Having said that, however, there’s much potential for things to be different this time.
Bucks’ Season In-Review: (53-12, 1st in East)
As discussed earlier, we talked about how having the full Bucks roster unlocks them to playing the way they want to play. With Giannis averaging more than he did last season, he alone is capable to contributing to the their wins in a multitude of ways through his scoring and also kicking out to the many shooters they have waiting on the outside ready to fire the 3, from George Hill, the Lopez twins, and Khris Middleton. Speaking on Middleton, he too has been averaging more than last season, a point where many people criticized him for not being able to contribute as much as we thought he could in the postseason. However this does not lie on Middleton’s shoulders alone, the entire Bucks offense needs to be capable of getting their own shots off the dribble rather than waiting for a shot on the three point line.
Looking Into the Bubble:
The Bucks need to ensure that they can consistently operate on offense, especially if Giannis isn’t having the game the we as fans expect him to have. They’re very much capable of shutting down teams offensively and getting out in transition, which is exactly where the Bucks want to be. The Bucks schedule, objectively, isn’t necessarily the hardest one out of all the teams but also does not imply that it’s a walk in the park either. The biggest competition that the Bucks may face in the Restart is facing off against Boston, Miami, Dallas, and Toronto. However, statistically, the Bucks should be capable of walking away from this schedule with a solid amount of wins, ultimately preparing for the NBA Playoffs.
