Why LeBron James didn't bring his personal chef and security team to the NBA bubble
At least during the first few days of the NBA’s time in the bubble city at Walt Disney World in Orlando, the conditions weren’t exactly luxurious.
Just as we saw with the MLS bubble, some NBA players posted photos of unappetizing Disney meals to social media. Others opted to order Postmates with the Kings’ Richaun Holmes ending up in quarantine for accidentally leaving the NBA campus to retrieve his order.
So given those modest conditions, many expected LeBron James to bring his personal chef, masseuse and security detail into the bubble. But that hasn’t been the case at all for the Lakers star.
TNT’s Chris Haynes framed LeBron’s decision to leave his chef, masseuse and security team at home as an effort to show unity with his teammates. If Alex Caruso and Kyle Kuzma are stuck eating bag lunches from the Disney kitchen, LeBron wanted to be right there with them.
“He wants to make sure that he’s going through all the rigors as his teammates on this campus,” Haynes said.
Of course, the framing of that reasoning was nice for LeBron, but there’s a good chance that LeBron wouldn’t have been allowed to bring those people inside the bubble even if he wanted to. Each team has a traveling party capped at 37, and the Lakers brought 17 players to the bubble — leaving 20 spots for coaches, trainers, medical staff, PR and content teams.
The Lakers weren’t about to send someone home because LeBron needed his masseuse and security team on campus.
The most LeBron could have done — according to the NBA’s bubble memo — was have his personal chef stay off campus and have the food delivered daily.
LeBron evidently opted against that, though.