Mental health has become a constant and necessary topic in 2020 and the NBA bubble has not been exempt from the challenges this year has brought. With the teams still in the bubble closing in on their second full month, the topic of mental health was brought up earlier in the week by Paul George, who discussed feeling anxious and a little depressed, crediting speaking to a psychiatrist with helping him have a breakout 35-point performance in Game 5 against the Mavericks.
On Friday, Lakers guard Danny Green, who was in a shooting slump for much of the bubble but is shooting 40 percent from 3 in the series, also discussed how the bubble environment can exacerbate typical situations and get a player stuck in their head. The constant and similar routine doesn’t help either, as transcribed by SB Nation’s Harrison Faigen.
“Mentally, it’s kind of like ‘Groundhog Day’ in here,” Danny Green said. “I don’t want to make it seem that bad, but the bubble is as good as your play, you know? You don’t have many escapes or outside distractions. If you’re not playing well, the walls are gonna close in on you more and more.”
The bubble has presented a lot of unexpected challenges to the players, particularly off the court.
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