In order to resume the NBA season after the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to be suspended, the professional basketball league has made the decision to host the remaining games within a bubble community at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. With the players and team staff being located within the bubble for a considerable period of three months, it appears that the league has taken into consideration the need for everyone to look sharp with good haircuts.
Former player and current Brooklyn Nets player development coach Tiago Splitter posted a photo on Twitter showing the NBA barbershop being built in the bubble. It didn't take long before fans made the inevitable comparisons to NBA 2K.
Many comments to Bleacher Report's posting of the photo made light of how the bubble has begun to resemble the Neighborhood present in the NBA 2K series since NBA 2K18 and whether players will need VC to get a haircut, considering the issues surrounding microtransactions in the basketball simulation series.
However, the barbershop isn't the only intersection between real life and the game, with plans to use the crowd noises from NBA 2K20 during games. The COVID-19 pandemic has heavily disrupted not just the league, but also the game of NBA 2k20 with the shutdown of a specific mode.
The Disney bubble will be an interesting experiment to look upon for the next few months to see if the NBA can successfully complete the season in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst there have been serious concerns surrounding potential infections, there have also been many light-hearted observations regarding the location of the bubble. For the next three months, the players will be able to experience a real-life version of the Neighborhood from NBA 2K and perhaps make comparisons with the potential improvements in the upcoming NBA 2k21.
NBA 2k20 is out now on PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, and Xbox One.
NBA 2K21 will release on September 4 2020 for PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, and Xbox One, and later for PS5 and Xbox One Series X.