Phil Coles lived inside the National Basketball Association (NBA) bubble for three months.
The bubble was an isolation zone at Walt Disney World in Florida, which the NBA created to protect basketball players and staff from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bubble hosted the final eight games of the 2019-20 season and the playoffs.
The LA Lakers clinched the championship on Monday, defeating Miami Heat. It was the Heat that knocked the Boston Celtics out of the playoffs.
Phil joined the Celtics in October last year as executive director of performance. Before then, he'd been living in Hamilton South and working with the Socceroos.
He has previously worked with the Newcastle Knights, Liverpool and San Antonio Spurs.
His job at the Celtics involves sports science, strength and conditioning and physiotherapy or "anything that affects the physical capabilities of the players".
All up, he spent 87 days inside the bubble.
"Aside from being away from family for so long, life was pretty good there," he said.
"The NBA did a great job setting up the campus and we had everything that we needed. From a work perspective, everything was great."
In his recreation time, he was able to play golf and swim, which "kept me entertained".
"I was also getting regular updates on the local Newcastle Basketball competition and the fortunes of the mighty Imposters division six team," he quipped. [Phil played for the team before moving to Boston]
"The biggest challenge was being away from family and having your freedom somewhat limited, but being in a camp environment where you live with the players 24/7 has advantages from a performance perspective.
"Aside from not having the travel between games, everyone was completely focused on getting better as a team and a lot of outside pressures were removed."
Phil said the Celtics performed well, although "we were obviously disappointed to go out in the eastern conference finals".
Phil's role is to take responsibility for the physical condition of the team.
"I think it was relatively successful in terms of that. We put ourselves in a good position to challenge for the title, but of course we want to take another step as a team. From my perspective, we can always do better," he said.
Phil's wife Karli and sons Cooper, 8, and Max, 6, were able to enter the bubble for the last week of his stay, having quarantined for a week in a separate resort.
"It was awesome to have them get to experience it, even if only for a week," he said.
When the family returned to Boston, they went to Phil's favourite takeaway place, Shake Shack.
