September 7, 2020

 

I had completely forgotten what day it was.  That is very easy to do here in the bubble as one day is very much like the other. Luckily, I knew it was Labor Day and that means it was Monday.  Crap, Monday is laundry day and I needed to drop my dirties off before 9:00am.  Hustling to the elevator I successfully unloaded the bag of laundry in the bin with minutes to spare. 

 

Instead of remaining upright I went back to my room and got sucked into another couple of episodes of Shameless.  I don’t know why I do this to myself because I am left with an empty feeling after each episode.  I just want something good to happen to the characters but it never sustains itself.  The writers of that series were damn good.

 

On my route to the dining area I encountered another camera operator from ESPN.  He had a little excitement in his step as he let me know he was going to be released from the bubble on Thursday and moved over to football.  He wasn’t only happy about the prospect of going to a different college campus each weekend, he was relieved.  I asked him why? 

 

Remember several weeks ago, or hell, it may have been last week, that I mentioned about the loneliness and isolation that occurs here?  I also quipped about checking the box on our NBA Health App about seeing a mental health professional?  Well he had gotten very close to checking that box just to speak to someone to help him set his head straight.  It was a relief to hear him say that out loud because I let him know the same thing. 

 

There has got to be a way to express without sounding like a candy ass the challenges that many of us face while being here.  Yes, we are all thankful for the opportunity, thankful for the regular paycheck, thankful for the outstanding accommodations provided by the NBA.  There is absolutely nothing to complain about, except for the isolation from our families and repetition each day provides.  Believe it or not, it gets to people, and one needs to deal with it in their own way.  Some drink a shitload, some exercise more than normal, others watch too much television.  Some, the situation doesn’t affect them at all.  I’m going to blame mine on Shameless!  No, I’m just kidding.  But I have found that repetition is not a good thing here in the bubble so I am trying like hell to vary my schedule and activities whenever I can.  The time the bubble does not seem to scratch at my core is when I am working a game.  During that time I am focused on the job and am most content.

 

Lunch was a veritable celebrity sighting day.  All the studs of the NBA were out.  Anthony Davis carried his kid on his shoulders to the lagoon restaurant, LeBron James walked with his wife past our dining area, Giannis (with his foot in a walking boot), Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe trailed behind Kawhi Leonard on their way to eat.  Fred Vanvleet was trying hard to contain a small child on a tricycle.  Nikola Jokic decided to eat in our dining area.  There were so many others just out and about.  I don’t want to speak for the players but I think they appreciate that no one is clamoring for a selfie or an autograph, that they can easily walk around alone or with their families like normal people.  And I need to mention again how refreshing it is to see small children without a care in the world exploring their environment.

 

The shuttle to the late game was very quiet.  Monotony had set in and our daily routine, unfortunately, had become a bit too usual.  I almost fell asleep in transit because it was so quiet on the shuttle, plus the rain was falling which made everything kind of dark and easy to shut they eyes.  Even the short walk to the arena took longer than normal as everyone pretty much slogged to the entrance and no one had a spring in their step.  Geez, have they all been watching Shameless as well?

 

There were no eliminations today but only half the games were worthwhile.  Boston made short work of Toronto as the haggard Raptors could only manage to score eleven points in the first quarter.  The other TNT crew, bless them, hung in and still produced a great telecast as the Celtics went up three games to two, only one win from the Eastern Conference finals.

 

My game was back and forth the entire forty eight minutes.  The Nuggets and Clippers played pretty evenly most of the game with Denver seeming to always have a slight lead.  And then Kawhi and Paul took over as Jokic cooled and Murray was never a factor.  It’s a good thing Jamal Murray was off tonight because had he been on like during the Utah series or the previous game, the Nuggets would be up two to one rather than the other way around.

 

We added another camera to our complement tonight.  It is a camera that is located free throw line extended on the left side of the court.  It is another super slow motion replay camera with the ability to playback even slower than those we already have.  It provided some very interesting replay looks and the more we work with it, the better I think the results will be.  When we started this two and a half month experiment, there were only four camera operators needed, sometimes only three, from the green zone.  With our current configuration a minimum of seven operators are required now.