The NBA’s Strategy Credit

Basketball in the bubble, Skin in the Game, and doing the “right thing” with nothing to lose

The NBA restart has been a slam dunk: competitive games, virtual fans, a fun vibe of March Madness meets Summer League, and of course the surprising, yet ultimately tragic, run by my Phoenix Suns, who closed out the season 8-0 as the only undefeated team in the bubble, and still didn’t make the playoffs.

And crucially: zero positive tests for COVID-19 among players, as of August 12, 2020.

The league’s pivot to the pandemic is even more impressive when you consider the degree of difficulty and operational complexity required to move everything to a secure “bubble” in Orlando, in the middle of a pandemic, under intense scrutiny and uncertain timelines.

But when you watch this new version of the NBA, it’s clear from tipoff that basketball in the bubble is about much more than just the game on the court.

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