KC-based team Missouri Phenom featured on TV as virtual fans inside NBA’s bubble
With no fans allowed inside the NBA bubble in Orlando, the NBA has tried to get creative in order to re-create the atmosphere of a real game.
One such tactic: a virtual fan video board behind the teams’ benches.
Members of the Missouri Phenom girls basketball team were able to occupy that space during Tuesday’s Portland Trail Blazers-Dallas Mavericks game. A year after winning the 2019 Jr. NBA Global Championship, the Phenom were highlighted on the NBA’s national broadcast.
“It was just good to see the girls on there,” Phenom coach Nick Bradford said. “A couple of our coaches jumped on and even some of our girls from the program who weren’t on that team who were a little older … they were also on to experience it, as well, and that was fun.”
Last year, the Phenom, comprised of 13- and 14-year-old girls from the Kansas City area, won the Jr. NBA Global Championship. Representing the Central Region in the tournament, the team went 7-0 and posted a convincing 72-35 victory in the championship game.
After his team won, Bradford didn’t know if the NBA would stay in contact. He was just proud of his girls. But he said the league has kept the team busy since last summer — the players have been involved with leadership meetings, spoken to WNBA and NBA players and starred in Jr. NBA commercials.
They didn’t know they would have the opportunity to be featured on the virtual screen until a month ago. Bradford said the experience was unique, as participants got to see themselves in their seats while also having a split-screen view of the court.
The opportunity has succeeded in building even more excitement within and around the Phenom program.
“The character of kids that we have in the program has really set a foundation and a culture that’s really good,” Bradford said. “It shows in the numbers recently. Even through COVID, we still have a lot of interest from a lot of younger generations wanting to become a part of Missouri Phenom.”
The team has played 25-30 games this summer despite the pandemic, according to Bradford. With the NBA season delayed by the virus, the NBA has moved the 2020 Jr. NBA Global Championships online.
This year’s event, the third edition of the tournament, used a mobile basketball training app called HomeCourt that allowed teams and players to participate in competitions and basketball drills at home. Teams also participated in discussions and meetings around community service, leadership and life skills.
Last week, five girls from the Missouri Phenom participated in a life-skills session with Jr. NBA Global Championship alumni across the country. They had a chance to learn from Chicago Bulls guard Coby White and Napheesa Collier, a Missouri Phenom alum and member of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx.
Collier talked to the players about the impact of COVID-19 on mental health, their thoughts on racial violence and using their platform as an athletes.
It was fitting she had the chance to speak to young players on the very team for which she played just a few years ago.
“It’s pretty cool. It shows the depth of our program,” Bradford said. “Napheesa, being one of the bigger names we’ve had, it just helps us grow as a program and having kids who want to maybe try and strive to get to that point.”