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Los Angeles Lakers player vlogs about life in the Disney World bubble
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JaVale McGee hasn’t played for the Nevada Wolf Pack since 2008, but the next three months might give him flashbacks to his college life.
“I feel like I’m in college. I feel like I’m in a dorm,” he told his dad on a video chat featured in one of his YouTube videos.
The 7’0 Lakers center recently started Life in the Bubble, a vlog that gives a true insider look at what life is like for NBA players staying in the Disney World bubble. McGee’s oldest video on his YouTube channel is the Golden State Warriors’ Championship parade three years ago. He has not always been a consistent vlogger, although he has shared a decent amount of music credited to Pierre, his music producer alter ego.
Life in the Bubble is only about two weeks old, with the first episode being released on July 12. However, each of the first six episodes have reached at least a million views and have helped him acquire 432K subscribers even with less than 40 total videos in his channel. An episode titled Full Team Scrimmage! Who Won?! posted on July 21 has been the most popular so far, reaching 2.1 million views. That video also happens to debut LeBron James and head coach Frank Vogel.
Sports bubbles are something that have not really been done before, so a lot of people are curious about the details of it. McGee’s videos show a range of stuff, from the Call of Duty set up in his room to the area where players get tested for COVID-19. Since McGee is a familiar face, other players and staff are seen having relaxed, casual interactions with him.
Stacey Robinson, a massage therapist who McGee playfully teases, has quickly become a fan favorite. She doesn’t love being on camera, she told McGee to “turn that mess off” after he told her she was a star and people love her on the internet.
A handful of players have already shared photos of food, but the vlog shows McGee’s experience with his vegan diet. Spoiler alert: not everything is good, but the tater tots are fire. McGee is not afraid to share parts of his personal life. In one episode, he is seen having a conversation with strength and conditioning coach Chattin Hill talking about when he first found out he had asthma.
McGee films his own videos but they are edited by Devin Dismang who is also an executive producer of the series. They feature some of Pierre’s music.
The latest episode came out July 26 and it’s a little different from the other ones.
“Another 9AM Practice? I wasn’t in the mood to vlog so decided to make one of my teammates do it,” wrote McGee, not a morning person, in the YouTube video description.
Danny Green, who has his own podcast called Inside the Green Room, was the lucky player to take over the show for that day.
The Lakers are not the only ones with this type of content. Matisse Thybulle from the Philadelphia 76ers is also vlogging a series called Welcome to the Bubble. The rookie films and edits all the material himself. As for media members, outlets like the Washington Post have published content sharing their own experiences.
Fans have already shown their love for insider looks. Earlier this year, Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance averaged 5.6 million viewers throughout its 10 episodes. In Thybulle’s first video, Tobias Harris joked about how they were practically filming their own version of an ESPN 30 for 30. With a limited amount of media access in Orlando, any content that gives an inside look at the bubble should be hot stuff for a while, so maybe that’s not so far fetched.
The NBA is currently playing scrimmages but the season is set to officially restart at the end of July. McGee and the rest of the Lakers will face the Los Angeles Clippers for their first game at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Arena on July 30.
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