The 2020-21 NBA season is set to begin outside of a bubble despite surging COVID-19 cases around the U.S. A plan to minimize travel and limit fans is the primary means of keeping players safe.
The bubble restart hosted at Disney didn’t just keep players safe according to a recent article by Run Repeat’s Dimitrije Curcic — it had an additional perk of reducing the number of injuries suffered by players.
Per Curcic, players missed 28% fewer games playing at the Lake Buena Vista location compared to the previous five seasons, and those injuries appeared less severe as a whole.
Players tended to miss 2.9 games per injury, 24% less than the five-season average despite games being closer than normal.
According to bubble injury record, these concerns could be legit https://t.co/XTNVYM7Kk7 https://t.co/2xjkWOudW6
— Dimitrije Ćurčić (@CurcicDimi) November 10, 2020
This suggests a lack of travel might be an important factor. So, perhaps, was the absence of back-to-back games. Both factors can be measured against the results seen in a 2020-21 NBA schedule with reduced travel — but perhaps more back-to-back games than usual.
It’s an interesting wrinkle the league will be able to monitor to help guide future scheduling decisions, particularly for teams such as the Celtics who have seen postseason aspirations take hits due to injury in three of their last four seasons.
