Skip to main content

Bradley Beal ‘wouldn’t be totally against’ NBA moving season into a bubble

By Chase Hughes

Beal 'wouldn’t be totally against' NBA moving season into bubble originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

As the Wizards continue to see their games postponed, with now six that will need to be made up, the NBA’s plan to play a regular season amid a global pandemic is proving to be increasingly challenging.

The league has continued to adjust its rules by adding stricter guidelines for players in order to keep them safe. But as the virus continues to spread around the league and across the country, it’s probably fair to ask at this point whether some sort of a bubble system will be necessary. The NBA, of course, completed its 2019-20 season in a bubble down in Orlando, FL.

There is the option of a centralized bubble or regional sites, an idea that was bandied about in the lead-up to the 2020-21 season. Either way, Wizards guard Bradley Beal doesn’t think it would be the worst idea.

“I probably wouldn’t be totally against it as long as we had the same success that we did the first go-around. I wasn’t part of the bubble in the first go-around, so I don’t necessarily know how all that worked down there every day. But I know going through it every day here, it’s a lot,” he said.

“We test twice a day at least for the last week. That’s very overwhelming at times. But I feel like if we’re able to be safe and control the virus and just control the spread of it; I’m all in favor of it. I just want to hoop. Hoopers hoop.”

As Beal notes, he wasn’t in Orlando for the 11 games the Wizards played there. He sat out due to a shoulder injury and didn’t have to spend the weeks others did at Disney World, in isolation from his family. Being removed from society was tough on the players that were there as many felt the effects mentally and emotionally. Paul George, for one, spoke out about the toll it took on him.

So, Beal can’t speak from experience in that regard, but he has seen firsthand how difficult it is to play basketball with the coronavirus spreading invisibly from player to player. As much testing and social distancing as they do, it has been hard to contain.

Whether the NBA ends up going the bubble route again is unclear. But the Wizards are proving to be an extreme example of just how wrong things can go and surely the league has to be concerned at this point.

Kyle Kuzma says he owed Joel Embiid a poster dunk

By Chase Hughes
Kyle Kuzma says he owed Joel Embiid a poster dunk originally appeared on NBC Sports WashingtonWASHINGTON -- Kyle Kuzma says he almost got Sixers big man Joel Embiid with a poster dunk his rookie year but couldn't finish the job (he was fouled), so when he had the opportunity to make up for it on Monday afternoon, he made sure to capitalize.In the second quarter of the Wizards' win over the Sixers, Kuzma drove into the lane with his left hand and threw down a thunderous right-handed slam right on Embiid, one of the biggest players and most formidable shot-blockers in the league. Kuzma provided the exclamation point for the Wizards in what became a blowout victory over a very good team."I owed him, actually, because my rookie year I tried to dunk on him and it didn't go so well. He came up to me after, I told him that and he told me if I did that again he would punch me in the face. I owed him, for sure," Kuzma said.Kuzma, who had 15 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks in the game (one on Embiid), said the dunk will be one he remembers for a long time. That is in part because he doesn't dunk on players all that often.Kuzma is 6-foot-10, but has more of a perimeter-based game. His scoring often comes from the three-point line and on crafty plays around the rim.Dunking on other NBA players is hard, even when you're 6-foot-10. And it is especially rare for it to happen against a player like Embiid, who is 7-feet and 285 pounds."That was pretty darn amazing, that's about all I can say," interim head coach Joe Blair said. "Hopefully he gets on SportsCenter top-10 with that. Let's say SportsCenter top-5, come on."Kuzma is third on the Wizards this season with 16 dunks, but a distant third. Daniel Gafford and Montrezl Harrell, who entered the game with 90 and 88 dunks on the season, respectively, lead the team.The dunk on Embiid certainly stands out among Kuzma's 16 slams on the season. Maybe he will frame a picture of it someday and hang it in his house.Well, actually, maybe that would be going too far. As questions about the play kept coming from reporters during his postgame press conference, Kuzma decided to downplay it a bit."I mean, it wasn't that nasty, honestly. I dunked on him. It wasn't that spectacular. I'm half-white, so I didn't get up that high. I'm just glad I got there," he joked.
Read Next Story

Related News

Kyle Kuzma says he owed Joel Embiid a poster dunk

Wizards acting head coach Joseph Blair recalls experience with Harlem Globetrotters

Wizards turn to third head-coaching option after Pat Delany enters protocols