Top Ten Players of The NBA Bubble

10. TJ Warren

During the eight resumed regular season games in the bubble, TJ Warren played like he had drank Michael Jordan’s Space Jam secret stuff. Averaging around 31 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists compared to his pre-bubble stats of 19.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists. This was a huge jump and is enough to have him in the running for the imaginary award of “Most Improved in the Bubble”. Reasons for the increase could be the motivation he had from his pre-bubble scuffle with Jimmy Butler. Unfortunately TJ and his Pacers lost in 4 to Jimmy and the Miami Heat and thats why he only comes in at number ten here.

9. Michael Porter Jr.

When he wasn’t praying for the police who brutally murdered George Floyd or denying the existence of COVID-19, MPJ was playing really good basketball. Averaging 22 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists was more than enough to get the Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals. MPJ is a young exciting star with lots of potential, he just needs to keep the wacky opinions to himself.

8. Jayson Tatum

Jayson Tatum was the Celtics biggest contributor in the bubble. Putting up 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, Tatum is going beyond expectations for a player drafted 3 years ago. Tatum led his Boston Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals and lost in 6 games to the Miami Heat. Unfortunately his playoffs run will be remembered more by getting blocked by Bam Adebayo.

7. Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Goran Dragic

Goran & Bam scored or assisted on almost half of the Miami Heat’s scoring in the bubble while Tyler had a huge 37 point game against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals as a rookie, these two statistics were enough to land the trio on this list. Goran is having a career resurgence, Bam is evolving into an All Star, and Tyler is a 20 year old rookie exceeding all expectations. These 3 were a big reason the Miami Heat made it to the NBA Finals.

6. Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis won the seasons NBA MVP award and had a good bubble but not a great bubble. Averaging 28 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists, Giannis made his impact not only on the court but off. Giannis was apart of the NBA’s protest being one of the first teams to protest their game because of police brutality. Giannis’ team the 1st seeded Bucks were upset in the second round by the 5th seeded Heat, this is the reason why Giannis is not higher on this list.

5. Devin Booker

Devin Booker not only averaged 30 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists but he led his poor Suns team to an 8-0 Bubble Record. This was still not enough to make the playoffs though due to their record before the bubble. If Booker plans on playing like this next season, the Phoenix Suns should be playoff bound for the first time since Steve Nash.

4. Jamal Murray & Damian Lillard

Jamal Murray came into the bubble as a future superstar, he came out of the bubble as a current superstar. Jamal ended his bubble run averaging 31 points a game, an insane scoring statistic for someone who had never averaged more than 20 points until now. Dame on the other hand had a historic bubble run, averaging 37 points, 4 rebounds, and 10 assists. The only reason Dame isn’t higher on this list is because the disappointing end to the season at the hand of the LA Lakers, losing 4-1 in the first round.

3. Luka Doncic

Luka and his Mav’s fell short to the LA Clippers in the first round, they shouldn’t hang their heads though Injuries and Ejections helped this come to fruition. Luka on the other hand averaged a triple double with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. This is incredible when you remember he was only drafted 2 years ago.

2. Jimmy Butler

From blasting expectations to Big Face Coffee, Jimmy Butler silenced all doubters during his bubble run. Jimmy’s stats will not jump out to you though, he averaged 21.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists. This may be surprising due to the stats of players that are lower on the list than him but you had to watch him play to understand. Being a Miami Heat fan I watched every single game Jimmy played in during the NBA Bubble and without him I don’t believe Miami would’ve even made it out of the first round, and here they were in the NBA Finals. Jimmy contributed in big ways that don’t show up statistically, his defense on players like TJ Warren, Giannis, and Jayson Tatum is evidence of that. Teams in the bubble who played the Miami Heat got hit by the “Jimmy Effect” and did not play like themselves when against him. The Bucks who were the first seed lost in an embarrassing five games to Jimmy and the Heat, something no one but Heat fans would have predicted. Jimmy made tons of noise off the court as well, starting a company inside Disney’s resorts. “Big Face Coffee” sold coffee in sizes small, medium and large and Jimmy charged $20 a cup no matter the size. Somehow this was a huge success

Number 1. LeBron James

King James did it again. Winning a Championship and Finals MVP while putting up 26.2 points, 9.9 rebounds and 8.3 assists in the bubble. When LeBron arrived in LA in 2018, many said he had only chosen to go there to have a career after basketball in movies. King James proved all of those haters wrong with Championship number 4 for his hall of fame career. Not only did the Lakers have to fight through the COVID-19 season stoppage, but they had to mourn the loss of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, someone James was very close too. LeBron did it, he did it to silence haters, he did it to improve his legacy, but most of all he did it for Kobe.