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On Wednesday we saw NBA players playing basketball against other NBA players for the first time since March 11 and you know what? It felt pretty darn great.
The NBA began its scrimmages on Wednesday, with four games being played in the bubble in Orlando. Were the games themselves memorable? No, not really. I already forgot who won and lost them. But that’s not really the point. The point is we got to see basketball again and everyone involved in the bubble is healthy and things are going well and the season is going to start soon. Hopefully.
Oh, and on Thursday we get our first look at the Bucks and Lakers, who won’t be playing against each other but could be in a few months in the NBA Finals.
Some really fun things happened in Wednesday’s games, though. So let me tell you about them in case you missed out.
1. The Denver Nuggets’ huge starting lineup.
Now this was definitely fun, as the Nuggets started one of the tallest lineups we’ve ever seen and it seemed to work. Nikola Jokic, who is 7-feet tall on the number started at point guard! Bol Bol, who is 7-foot-2, started on the wing and did some pretty awesome things. Paul Milsap was at the other forward and Mason Plumlee was at center for the Nuggets, who could be a sneaky pick to do something in the playoffs.
2. Joakim Noah plays for the Clippers!
The Clippers and Magic kicked things off on Wednesday and everyone was instantly shocked to see Noah not only in a Clippers uniform but also starting for the team. He even scored the first bucket of the game for LA, which signed him for the rest of the season at the end of June. I totally forgot the Clippers added Noah and I wasn’t alone, which felt nice.
3. Jokic gave us our first meme from Orlando.
As I said before, Jokic started at point guard for the Nuggets and… turned the ball over eight times. That’s not great but his hilarious reaction to one of those turnovers was great and became our first meme from the bubble.
4. A really bad attempt to get a chant going.
We’re in a new world with games having no fans in the stands so there are going to be some kinks to work out. One of those kinks happened in the Nuggets game when the PA system tried to get the empty arena fired up with a “Let’s go Nuggets!” chant. Did that go well? No, of course it didn’t. That was, however, a nice little learning moment for whoever is in charge of the PA system.
Wednesday’s biggest winner: Mookie Betts. And Dodgers fans.
Mookie Betts is going to be a Dodger for a looooooong time as he signed a 12-year, $365 million extension with the team on Wednesday. That’s five million more than the extension that Mike Trout signed last year and is the biggest in MLB history. The MLB world agrees – the Dodgers are now set up to be really great for a really long time.
Quick hits: Christian Pulisic is incredible… Dave Grohl stands up for teachers… KG’s perfect opportunity… And more!
– Christian Pulisic came on late as a substitute for some reason on Wednesday and then did a few incredible things for Chelsea, which almost came back from a huge deficit against Liverpool.
– Foo Fighters lead singer Dave Grohl wrote a beautiful piece on how teachers need our support now more than ever and you should go read.
– Mike Sykes explains why Kevin Garnett buying the Minnesota Timberwolves would be the sweetest ending to his Glen Taylor beef.
– A MMA fighter shared a horrifying photo of an eye injury he suffered in a fight. Yikes.
– Charlotte unveiled its new MLS team’s name and fans roasted it.