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The NBA's YouTube generation documents life in Orlando coronavirus bubble

14 July 2020
Dan Ackermann

The NBA bubble at Walt Disney World demands a documentary and will surely get its own "30 for 30" one day. But as the action begins to unfolds, it's clear that the players, themselves, will be the primary storytellers.

Why it matters: The most unique sporting event in history (just ahead of every other event this year) will be documented by its participants, making it less of a traditional "sports season" and more of a must-see reality show.

  • The intrigue: Many NBA players already have experience capturing their lives on camera, creating content for social media and building their brands beyond basketball through things like music and eports/livestreaming.

Inside the bubble: Players are finding creative ways to stay busy while they self-quarantine and wait for the season to resume on July 30 — and, like most young people, they're posting everything on social media and getting others involved.

  • 76ers rookie Matisse Thybulle vlogged his trip from Philadelphia to the Orlando, providing a first-person POV of what it's like to arrive in the bubble.
  • Multiple players engaged in a beer shotgun challenge. Miami's Meyers Leonard shotgunned a Coors Light in record time, declaring himself "King of the Bubble."
  • Dallas' Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell, aka DJ Ice-o and DJ Q, hosted a self-quarantine balcony dance party."
  • A Twitter account (@NBABubbleLife) has already been created. Its mission: curate all the player-generate content and "bring the bubble to your timeline."

The big picture: There are a handful of NBA reporters inside the bubble, but they won't be permitted to do most of the things they typically do as reporters (mingle in the locker room, talk to players, overhear conversations, land "scoops").

  • In many ways, they're not there to cover basketball so much as they're there to cover the bubble, itself. How are players adjusting to their bizarre new reality? How is the league is handling health and safety? Things like that.
  • The focus of that coverage will shine even brighter light on the players' off-court personalities, and the inner workings of an NBA team (ya know, the stuff we don't normally get to see until something like "The Last Dance" comes out and blows ours minds).

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.