How We Experienced the “NBA Bubble” and Virtual Fandom

If you’ve been on the internet lately, you’ve likely heard about the NBA “bubble.” Alongside my friend Jake T. Davidson, I’ve been monitoring the bubble and how it works. A few days ago, we decided to embark on a treacherous quest: getting invited to an NBA bubble game. Documenting our experience along the way, we navigated the good, the bad, and the really cool.

So, where did we start?

The idea (much like most great ones) came in an extremely impulsive fashion. Jake and I were talking when he randomly exclaimed, “dude, let’s try to get in the bubble!” Me being me, I jumped on the idea of a low-risk high-reward endeavor.  Now that we had our goal, we needed a way in. The first step was obtaining the contact information of the NBA teams. Long story short, we ended up getting the list through our friend Marko Danial. Wanting in on the project, he was able to get us the contact information of all the NBA teams featured in the Orlando bubble. 

Once we had the necessary outlets for our requests, we drafted our separate applications. The virtual fan process is extremely competitive, so we cited our large social media pages in hopes of being accepted. We own a large network of Instagram niche accounts, so we noted that the experience would be shared with our followers. After we sent out our emails (around 30 in total) there was nothing to do but wait. 

A few of our emails were immediately rejected due to an “invalid email address,” another few relayed us to a general application form, and the rest received no response. Given it was still early in the process, we weren’t too worried. Realistically, we were hoping for a response within a week or so. 

The next morning, I decided to check my email. While I had a hunch that nothing would be waiting for me, I figured it wouldn’t do any harm. To my utter shock, I had received an invitation. My email had been relayed to someone from the Denver Nuggets, and they were interested in having me attend their game on Friday, August 14th. I flooded Jake with messages and found that he received the same invitation. Naturally, we were ecstatic. To get an invitation was amazing, and we immediately cleared our schedules to make room for the upcoming event. 

Remember when I noted “the bad” in the beginning? The game happened to be going on during my 26-hour cross-country road trip, meaning I’d have to tune in from the backseat of a minivan. I devised my plan (put a power strip in the back of the car, link my computer to a hotspot on my phone, pray that the service doesn’t disappear) and we headed on our way. 

What happened next? 

Before anything else, I’d like to thank the Nuggets for the truly awesome seats. It was a wonderful time, and we’d love to attend another game. 

The day before the match, we received an email with our “credentials.” The bubble operates through a platform called “Microsoft Teams,” so we were told to install the application. Secondly, we were given very specific instructions as to how we were to set up the viewing experience. While it wasn’t too difficult, we had certain tasks that were needed to optimize the game. The Nuggets representatives were extremely hospitable, and they guided us throughout the whole process, including when I lagged out unexpectedly. 

We arrived at the meeting 45 minutes before game time, allowing us to meet the people in our section beforehand. During that time period, we were presented with certain rules (no signs, only one person is allowed in the frame, etc.)

My Wi-Fi was horrendous throughout the game. I was kicked out of the viewing room on a multitude of occasions due to my poor connection. However, it settled down after halftime. The game itself was amazing, and we had a great time. Our section was televised, meaning we could be seen behind the team bench. I got some really cool snapshots, and the fact that I was “attending” the game from the back of my car was hilarious. On a side note, one of the stars from “the bachelor” was in my section. While the Nuggets weren’t able to pull out the victory, cheering them on was extremely fun. 

In the end, it was probably one of my favorite experiences ever. Getting invited was awesome, but being there was on a whole different level. The idea of the “bubble” is extremely intuitive, and we really got the complete fan experience.