What it’s like to be a virtual fan in the NBA bubble

When you’ve covered the NBA for as long as I have, you get invited to a few interesting events. For example, in January, when you were still allowed to go to things, I was invited to a Ruffles party to celebrate Anthony Davis’ signature chip.

Ruffles party. Signature chip. Normal things.

However, not even a chip party can compare to the strangeness of the virtual fan experience that Michelob ULTRA allowed me to be a part of this past weekend. Michelob ULTRA Courtside was designed to replicate the fan experience for both players and fans as we await the return of real fans at sporting events in the United States. While I can’t confidently say that it did just that, it was undeniably a lot of fun.

The experience starts with securing a virtual ticket, which you can try to do by entering the Michelob ULTRA Courtside sweepstakes. Once you’ve secured your ticket, you get a unique Microsoft Teams username and password to take your seat in the virtual fan lobby. The software is designed to recognize human bodies and cut out everything else in the background, but a few fans were able to sneak in their dogs, which typically isn’t something that can be done at stadiums.

Nothing will ever come close to the actual experience of sitting in a stadium packed with passionate fans, but the experience didn’t need to in order to be fun — it was just its own, silly thing, and I had a good time.

I’d liken it to hopping on a video conference call with your classmates, except all of your classmates are basketball fans and the call is broadcast on national television. So, you know, like a regular old conference call!

However, for that reason, there was an adjustment period to the whole experience. Cheering is encouraged because the fan noise from the lobbies are mixed in with the artificial fan noise in the stadium, but similar to a work video conference call, everyone in our lobby put themselves on mute for almost the entire game out of fear of looking or sounding bad, and there was minimal conversation between the virtual fans.

In other words, the crowd that you’re watching the game with has a big affect on your experience, similar to the actual fan experience.

If you’re lucky like I was, there will be a few familiar faces next to you in the virtual stands like B.J. Armstrong and Scottie Pippen, both of whom were part of the legendary Chicago Bulls teams in the 1990s. We’ve seen a lot of past players and celebrities from Shaq to Lil Wayne. You never know who you may see next to you.

They were just like the rest of us: watching the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers play with a beer in their hands. They even high-fived the people virtually sitting next to them and participated in the virtual wave!

During their championship runs with the Bulls, Armstrong and Pippen played in front of the roaring fans at the historic Chicago Stadium, so the concept of virtual fans is foreign to them. But despite their unfamiliarity with the situation, Armstrong and Pippen are confident their Bulls teams wouldn’t have been affected by having only virtual fans in attendance.

“You’ve got to realize the era we played in and how our team came together,” Pippen told SB Nation during halftime. “We had a few bumps in the road where we could have went further into the playoffs, but we were on a team where we were already on pace to win a title to some degree, so playing in a bubble like this would have been great for us.

“Because remember: we had a long run, so this would have been perfect because we had that chemistry already built, we had that camaraderie, we were already bonded, we liked each other. There was no animosity or jealousy on our team, so we would have done well in this bubble.”

Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

“I agree with Scottie,” Armstrong added. “I think we had a team that was very versatile. I think we would have adjusted, but I think it’s a little different to watch knowing all of the mental challenges that we had to go through and overcome as a team in that era. But for sure, because we had such a great group.”

The virtual fan experience was enjoyable, and something that few of us will get to say we experienced in our lifetimes. Even if you’re not a die-hard basketball fan, it’s worth trying to get a ticket to be on TV. Who doesn’t like to be on TV?

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