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NBA is using Microsoft Teams to bring basketball fans courtside

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The National Basketball Association (NBA) is using Microsoft Teams’ new Together Mode to place basketball fans courtside in a virtual experience during live games. Microsoft only just revealed Together Mode for Teams earlier this month, and it uses AI to segment your face and shoulders and place you together with other people in a virtual space.

The NBA is using this new Microsoft Teams mode combined with 17-foot tall LED screens that will wrap around basketball arenas to put fans back next to players. Fans will be able to react in real time, and players will be able to see and hear those reactions. These virtual stands will include more than 300 fans using Together Mode to sit side by side with each other virtually in Microsoft Teams. Fans will be able to watch a live feed of the game within Teams alongside a view of each other.

“This new experience—the first to go live as a result of the NBA / Microsoft partnership — gives participating fans the feeling of sitting next to one another at a live game without leaving the comfort and safety of their homes,” explains Jared Spataro, head of Microsoft 365. “Players, meanwhile, will experience their energy and support as they dribble down the court and see fans’ real-time reaction. And viewers tuning into the game from home will feel the crowd’s energy as well as they see the virtual stands filled with fans.”

Why Lou Williams’ Visit to Strip Club Wouldn’t Have Happened on Lakers!

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One thing clear from the start is winning a championship in the Orlando bubble is going to test the mettle and character and challenge the will and discipline to win of NBA players like no other title in league history.

While Lou Williams being forced to quarantine for 10 days for violating protocol and visiting a strip club while excused from the bubble seems like a minor offense, it could have had serious consequences. Players not taking the coronavirus threat seriously is the kind of behavior that could have ended up compromising the Clippers’ opportunity to win a championship and/or the league’s ability to finish the 2020 season.

While I’m not trying to demonize Lou Williams, it’s hard for me to imagine the same thing happening with any player on the Lakers, not with a team leader like LeBron James setting the tone and tenor for his teammates. Pursuing an NBA championship in the harsh environment of the Orlando bubble demands a level of dedication and commitment inconsistent with visiting a strip club when on leave to attend a relative’s memorial services.

As NBA analyst Rafael Barlowe said in yesterday’s Lakers Fast Break podcast, it would have been different had it been 23-year old Landry Shamet who got caught instead of the Clippers’ 33-year old team leader. The incident raises legitimate questions about the Clippers’ leadership and commitment to win. Playing in the bubble is going to separate the players who are serious about winning from those who lack the dedication.

Imagine LeBron’s response had one of the Lakers’ young players broken containment and risked exposure to coronavirus by visiting a strip club? The King’s anger and displeasure would have been scalding and immediate. Yet we hear nothing from Clippers’ superstars Kawhi Leonard or Paul George and just a weak joking rebuke from head coach Doc Rivers, which highlights the difference between the Lakers’ and Clippers’ approaches.

Contrast Lou Williams’ decision with Alex Caruso choice to miss his sister’s wedding because of how a possible 10-day quarantine could adversely impact his Lakers team’s ability to get in sync for the upcoming playoffs. There’s no question LeBron James’ serious all-business approach to the NBA’s season restart weighed heavily on Alex Caruso’s mind when he made his personal decision not to leave the bubble for his sister’s wedding.

While the Lakers seem primed for the restart of the NBA season with all 17 roster players now in the bubble and cleared to play, the Clippers are still struggling to get all of their players to Orlando and out of quarantine. Williams was not the only Clipper player who left the bubble for personal reasons. Opting not to bring their two-way players to Orlando, the Clippers were only able to suit up 10 of 15 players for a scrimmage last week.

NBA players are human but playing in a bubble in a pandemic in Orlando creates an entirely different dynamic when it comes to committing to remain in isolation for a couple of months while pursuing a championship. We’re going to see lots of players not willing to make the personal sacrifices the bubble demands. There are going to be teams that, when they get down 0–2 in the playoffs, are just going to throw in the towell and go home.

Having a championship veteran leader like LeBron James clearly gives the Lakers a huge mental advantage over the competition when facing a unique and challenging situation like this season’s playoffs in the Orlando bubble.

Los Angeles Lakers: Frank Vogel’s secret lineup tweak

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Frank Vogel’s “Secret” Lineup Tweak

The Lakers back-to-back matchups against the Milwaukee Bucks and LA Clippers had higher stakes and intensity than the average regular-season game. If a lineup tweak was to come in the playoffs, one would imagine these games would provide a glimpse of it (for reference, each of LeBron, Davis, Howard and McGee were available).

Against Milwaukee, however, Frank Vogel only deployed seven minutes with a LeBron/Davis frontcourt and only 12 total with Davis at the five (below the 7.5 and 13.1 season averages). These lineups had success but their utilization was limited.

The Clippers game helps reveal a different story, however. There were nine minutes with James and AD down low and most notably, 22 total with Davis at center (no McGee/Howard).

65 percent of Davis’s minutes came at the five against the Clippers, the second-highest rate of any game this season. The highest rate actually came in the Lakers’ next and last game before the suspension (68 percent against the Brooklyn Nets). This was partially due to Howard missing the game, but could it still be reflective of a larger lineup trend that sees more minutes at center for Davis?

Against the Clippers, Vogel was fine pairing Davis with another big when LeBron was on the court. When James rested, however, Davis played almost exclusively at center for 13 of those 14 minutes. The Lakers were successful in these minutes, outscoring the Clippers with almost every lineup combination.

This approach was present in the Milwaukee game as well. Davis may have seen limited time at center, but all five of the minutes he played without LeBron came at the five. The final game against Brooklyn? Nine of 11 minutes.

It’s not as if it’s been this way all season either. With LeBron off the court, only 58.2 percent of Davis’s minutes have come without McGee or Howard. If one digs into the numbers, it appears that Frank Vogel decided to adjust over the All-Star Break.