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Blake Lyons is living the hoops dream inside the NBA Bubble — even though he is neither a player nor a coach.
The 29-year-old Filipino-American had been chosen as one of the few team attendants inside the campus.
Blake has been with the Los Angeles Clippers for almost 18 years now. His mother, Susan, is from Quezon City and moved to the United States when she was 11. His father, Robert, is from Chicago.
And just like his kababayans in the Philippines, Blake loves the game.
“Growing up, my dad put me in basketball. He grew up around the NBA,” Blake said in an exclusive interview with GMA News Online. “Since I was able to walk, I pretty much had a basketball in my hand. Throughout my life, I would play basketball in clubs, all the way up to high school varsity basketball.”
When an ankle injury forced him to stop playing competitively, he continued playing in church leagues and pick-up games in the gym. He also engaged with the game in other ways, becoming a ballboy for the Clippers when he was just 12 years old.
“I remember it was the second year of Michael Jordan in the Washington Wizards,” he said. “I do remember passing him the ball and helping him rebound. So that was something I’ll never forget.
“I’ve also been lucky enough to work with Kobe, Shaquille O’Neal, Yao Ming, be in their presence and watch their games ever since I was young,” he added.
Basketball has been a part of Blake Lyons' life since he was a child.
Working with the Los Angeles Clippers has allowed Black Lyons to work with all kinds of celebrities, including Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao.
From being a ballboy, he became a team attendant when he was 16, a promotion which coincided with the Clippers’ first playoff appearance.
“That was the year with Sam Cassell, Corey Maggette, Cuttino Mobley. All these great players who actually made the playoffs for the first time and ironically, it’s the year that I got moved up to the locker room,” Blake said.
“I was able to kind of gain that experience and see what it’s like working in a locker room and being around NBA players even more instead of just passing the ball and sweeping the floor,” he added. “I was in the locker room, helping out with the warmups, helping out with the gear, and pretty much gaining that experience.”
After years of working the home side, Blake was eventually assigned to help out with the away teams, which for him “is where you want to be in terms of working because you get to gain more connections.”
Being part of the crew that assists vivistors also meant that he earned the Clippers’ seal of approval.
“Knowing that I got moved over to the away side, it was an honor, it showed that my hard work was paying off,” he said.
As a team attendant, Blake’s role is to provide support for the teams playing in the Staples Center and ensure a smooth game experience for the players.
“I work on the away side team so basically any team that plays the Clippers, I’ll be in contact with their manager and trainer and basically facilitate their stay within the Staples Center,” he said. “I help set up the locker room and pretty much help out in anything that they need.
“During the game, you’ll see me giving drinks, giving towels, just very little things to kinda help their game run smoothly. Maybe things that people don’t see, but it’s something that’s definitely needed,” he added.
Blake had no idea that he was among the names submitted by his home club to make the bubble. When the Clippers informed him, he already had a feeling that he would make the cut.
“I kinda figured ‘Hey, I probably would end up coming’ because of my experience and my relationship with different teams, it always seems right. So I prepared my family for it, for being all the way up here until October, for three months.”
It only took him an hour to accept the NBA’s offer after receiving the league’s call.
Despite the COVID-19 threat, Blake bravely went to the Bubble to do the thing he loves.
“At first, it was pretty difficult with the whole coronavirus, I didn’t even want to come because of my safety and my health but I consulted my family and they thought that this was a great opportunity. This is something that will probably come only once in my life,” he said.
Blake Lyons describes the opportunity to join the NBA bubble as a once in a lifetime experience.
Fishing is a pastime for Blake Lyons on days off inside the bubble.
Blake thinks the Bubble is the “safest place in the world to be in” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The NBA has put health protocols in place to keep everyone inside the Bubble safe. It includes regular COVID-19 testing, vital health monitoring, social distancing, and wearing of masks all the time.
Upon arrival in the Bubble, people get tested and quarantined in a separate hotel. After 24 hours, if the result is negative, they proceed to their assigned hotels for another six days of quarantine.
“For six days, we were basically staying in our rooms. So everyday, for 9:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 6:00 pm, they’re gonna knock on your door, and the food is just sitting on the ground in a bag.”
During their quarantine period, the only time they were allowed to go out is when they need to undergo a test.
“Those seven days, it went by pretty quick, but that was a month ago. I do remember doing workouts in my room, push-ups, dips, I’ll get my bag and use them as dumbbells for weights,” Blake said.
To ease the boredom, he brought a game console, like what other NBA players did.
“I was smart enough to bring my PlayStation. I saw other players bringing it. I feel like I need to bring it because there has to be something during the quarantine so that was one thing I was able to do.”
Once done with the quarantine period, they can go outside of their rooms in the facilities inside the Bubble. However, they still need to follow the protocols imposed by the NBA. They also need to undergo testing every day.
“I don’t know anywhere else [where people] get tested everyday,” Blake said. “The results come in about 12 to 20 hours later. We have a portal on a website that we could check [the results].”
The people inside the Bubble, according to Blake, can afford to take the test every day because the device is a little bit different from the normal swab testing seen in hospitals or health centers.
“It’s a simple test. It’s nothing like you see that goes all the way up. It’s not that one,” said Blake. “It’s still a swab. They go down under your throat, just a little bit, like in the cheeks, then go in your nose a little bit. But it’s not the nose. It’s something that I can do every day.”
Aside from testing, they also need to regularly submit their pulse rate and temperature to the NBA for health monitoring.
All the information regarding their health is input in the “magic band” which also grants them access to the places they are allowed inside the Bubble.
“If I were to go into the arena, let’s say I use this thing, and you have to like hit something and it will go green. If it goes blue or red, they pretty much move you in an area and figure out what the issue is,” Blake said.
Social distancing is also something that the NBA takes seriously. They have a wearable device which makes a sound when a person is within less than six feet of another person.
Masks are also required, while sanitizers and clorox wipes are always available wherever they are.
With all the health protocols in place, the NBA, in its latest report said no players have tested positive for COVID-19.
“The fact that everybody has been safe, there has been no issue, I mean it just shows you that this could work,” Blake said.
Daily testing is a requirement for everyone inside the NBA bubble.
The NBA plays the games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside the resort, which Blake Lyons describes as the safest place in the world.
The NBA may have strict protocols, but it’s not all work inside the campus. Everyone can have their time for play, too.
“I can go around the lake, do fishing, and go biking. I can do things like that, but the boundaries of the bubble are pretty marked,” Blake said. “You could play pickleball, cornhole. You can still interact with anybody.”
“It’s not that bad because you’re at a resort. I can go to the pool if I want to,” he said. “People say ‘You’re stuck in the bubble.’ Yeah, we are but at the same time it feels like a little vacation in a way when you’re not doing anything, you’re not working.”
NBA fans who make it inside the Bubble even have the chance to interact with their favorite players — with a little precaution, of course.
“We still need to maintain distance but at the same time, they are humans too,” Blake said. “In passing, I say hi, things like that, but they have their own kind of area, we have our area, but there’s still some area where we do come in passing.”
“Some players that I know and have relationships with, there’s no problem to say hi, you can still interact with other people, but once that thing starts beeping, you know, we might well, hey you know, step back a little bit,” he added, referring to his smart wristband.
Blake expects to be inside the Bubble until the Finals, and of course, he is rooting for his home team, the LA Clippers.
“I do predict the Clippers and Lakers in the Western Conference Finals,” he said.
“The reason why I say that though with all seriousness is because the Clippers’ bench is historic. There’s nothing like it,” Blake added.
“Now that we have Kawhi [Leonard] and Paul George, Lou Will[iams], Montrezl, and shooters like Andy Roeser and Shamet, tough guys like Patrick Beverley, I don’t see how others will match up with that when they’re completely healthy,” he said.
But before going to the Finals, they still need to face tough teams in the West, such as the top seed Los Angeles Lakers.
“The Lakers I know are great. LeBron James is my favorite athlete of all time. Anthony Davis, same thing,” Blake said about their fellow LA team. “[But] they’re also dealing with injuries, and [there are] people that can’t be in the bubble like Avery Bradley. It’s little things like that.”
The Clippers are down to a Game Seven against the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals, with the Lakers waiting to face the winner.
On the East side, the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat will start their best-of-seven conference finals soon.
Blake thinks being inside the Bubble will have a different effect on the teams.
“I noticed a lot of teams are scoring more points. I think that kinda attributes to it. Not only are there fans booing you or cheering you, but now, shooting a free throw is completely silent. So, it’s definitely a different feel.”
At the end of the day, playoffs basketball is something that is unpredictable, especially playing in a different environment.
“It’s hard to predict something that we have never seen. But after watching these past couple of games, I think they’ve gotten used to it but at the same time, there really isn’t gonna be a home court advantage in the Finals,” he said.
With editing by Marisse Panaligan.
