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NBA
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Tim Noonan
Opinion
Tim Noonan

How the rumblings of raging hormones could completely burst the NBA’s bubble

  • High stakes as league returns in truncated form against backdrop of pandemic and social tensions
  • The NBA has set up a hotline for players to report their colleagues for infringements

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The NBA will not be tolerant of players clowning around at the Orlando ‘bubble’. Photo: AP
Tim Noonan
Tim Noonan has been crafting uniquely provocative columns for the SCMP and SMP for more than a decade.
Technically, the NBA is full of young men playing a game. But it is the kid in the man, the boundless athletic energy of youth, that makes him a multimillionaire living a life of unfathomable temptation and entitlement. It’s also why the kid in the man no longer responds to the word “no”. However, stick him in a bubble of self-discipline and accountability, where a single wrong move could imperil not only a billion-dollar industry but the health and welfare of everyone around him, and it quickly becomes the most fascinating and riveting of human lab experiments.

After a 141-day hiatus since the last game was played on March 11, the NBA is back. Sort of. Everything is alien, from the time of year – midsummer – to the empty arena and dizzying list of Covid-19 medical protocols. One thing, though, remains unchanged: these are superior physical specimens, both wildly competitive and full of testosterone. Who knows how they will respond to the hermetically sealed bubble at the Walt Disney World complex in Orlando, Florida, where the league will crown a champion in three months’ time.

Within days of reporting, cracks began to emerge. One player dissatisfied with the internal food options, ordered some chicken wings from a nearby restaurant and briefly left the bubble to meet the delivery man. Oops. He was forced to publicly apologise and endure an additional eight-day quarantine.

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