That’s A Rap #115: Putting a Bubble wrap on the 2019-20 season

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The longest NBA season in history is finally over and a familiar Raptors killer has reclaimed his spot atop the basketball world.

Almost exactly a year later, the 2019-20 is (mercifully) over.

It’s been a memorable year filled with approximately 0.5 ups, and 2,020 downs. The phrase, “defending, reigning, world champions” will be temporarily relinquished by the Raptors and given to the Lakers. The Larry O. B. actually stays in the hands of Phil Handy and Danny Green, which is bittersweet to Toronto fans daydreaming of what could have been.

With the season officially over, we had to tie a bow on the season before navigating the rocky shores known as the off-season news cycle. Enjoy the latest episode of That’s A Rap and make sure to drop any comments below.

In This Episode:

4:15 — New Raptors fits

The Raptors didn’t wait long to drop their new uniforms for 2021. What do you think? Does it bother you that the chevron still doesn’t say Toronto? Or does the presence of the gold championship tab make all jerseys sexy enough to purchase? The accompanying commercial had a couple of noticeable absences. Can any meaning be drawn from Fred VanVleet and Serge Ibaka being left out?

13:40 — New champs

The Los Angeles Lakers are the new champions. Dion Waiters, Dwight Howard, and Jared Dudley are all first-time champs. Kostas Antetokounmpo is the first champ in the family. Danny Green joined Frank Saul (ABA), Steve Kerr, Patrick McCaw, and Chris Boucher as the only players to win consecutive championships on different teams. Most importantly, LeBron James became the first player to win three Finals MVPs with three different teams.

22:00 — LeBron’s legacy

After a one-year hiatus, LeBron’s return to the Finals was a successful as he would’ve hoped. He’s appeared in nine of the last ten Finals, winning four titles, and cemented his status as one of the top two (but not two?) players of all time. Does this championship change your perception of James?

30:30 — Bubble wrapping the season

After three months inside the bubble, the overall feeling is that the NBA did a great job of creating and maintaining a safe environment for basketball to resume. In addition to the zero COVID cases among players and coaches, the bubble was also quite successful in its social movement initiatives.

40:00 — Dre vs. Jay

Jason hits us with a variety of bubble-related questions, from the barber shop to the swimming pool, from eating at a strip club to eating Uber Eats, from the Sun’s run to Washington’s washed lineup, and some interesting trivia to boot.