The NBA is considering having the eight teams omitted from the NBA restart in the Orlando, Fla., bubble to convene for their own undetermined return-to-play setup.
While it’s unclear whether a bottom-eight resumption will actually come to fruition, don’t count Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green among its proponents.
Appearing this week on “The Steam Room” podcast, Green was asked by Charles Barkley about the potential for the eight teams left out of the NBA’s restart to also return to playing in some format.
To say Green is unimpressed by the notion would be an understatement, as evidenced by his thorough dragging of the concept (as transcribed by Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area).
Barkley: “Are you, Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) getting ready for that second bubble right now? (laughter)”
Draymond: “Second bubble? What’s that? (laughter) The Gus Macker Toilet Bowl — that’s what you want us to go play in? (laughter)”
Barkley: “When I heard them saying some of the other teams want to put together a second bubble, me and Dray were joking. I asked him last week, I said, ‘Hey, when are you and Steph gonna get to that second bubble?’ He said, ‘Hell no!’ “
Draymond: “No chance (laughter). No chance. No, at the end of the day — if it came about and we had to go — I’m not gonna opt out. I’m just not gonna do that. But I am strongly against Adam Silver and anyone else in the league office starting a second bubble.
“No one wants to see these teams. And by the way — they don’t want to see us if Steph and Klay ain’t playing either (laughter). So what are we talking about?”
The latest news on the “Delete Eight” potentially returning to the court comes from Sam Amick of The Athletic, who reports the NBA is considering inviting the Warriors, Timberwolves, Cavaliers, Hawks, Knicks, Pistons, Bulls and Hornets to the bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The teams’ arrival would come after the conclusion of the first round of the playoffs, as only eight of the original 22 teams that originally descended on Orlando would be left in the bubble. The plan would be to have newly arrived teams to conduct OTAs in Orlando, though it merits noting that the plan is in its earliest stages at this point.
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