The death of Kobe Bryant shocked us all. 

Only hours after he celebrated LeBron James passing him for third on the all time scoring list, former Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, 41, passed away the morning of January 26 in a fatal helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.

The passing of the former 5-time champion, 2-time Finals MVP, and Academy Award Winner rocked the NBA as the ensuing Lakers game was postponed. Every team across the league honored Bryant by beginning games with a 24 second shot clock violation and an 8 second backcourt violation - referencing Bryant's numbers, 8 and 24.

His former team would host a ceremony in his honor prior to their game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Kobe's daughter Gianna, 13, along with six other passengers and the chopper's pilot were also killed in the crash.

Rudy Gobert's positive COVID-19 result snowballed. 

Early March 11, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith expressed a heightened level of concern for the NBA as the novel coronavirus was intensifying in the United States, saying "the season could be in jeopardy."

Not twelve hours later, the matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz was mysteriously postponed. The reason? Jazz center Rudy Gobert had become the first NBA player to contract the coronavirus.

That same night, the league announced that the season would be indefinitely suspended at the conclusion of that night's games. Over the coming weeks, Boston's Marcus Smart, Brooklyn's Kevin Durant, Utah's Donovan Mitchell (Gobert's teammate), and a number of Los Angeles Lakers players among others would contract COVID-19. Originally, commissioner Adam Silver said the shutdown would last at least 30 days - and we all know it lasted much longer.

The 'bubble' made its first appearance.

The NBA shutdown would last into July as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the earth. Negotiations concerning how much of player salaries would be paid, television contracts, and safety from a new sickness were intense and difficult. The solution was the first ever bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

It was a last-ditch effort to complete the season while keeping NBA personnel safe from the coronavirus. 108 days after the March 11th suspension, following precautionary quarantines, and a 3 week training camp, the NBA season resumed in a complex in which the players were isolated from the outside world. It seemed to be working, as the NBA finished the regular season without a single positive test in the bubble.

There was, however, one virus that the Florida bubble couldn't keep out.

Racism almost ended the season.

Prior to coming to the bubble, NBA players and athletes across the spectrum had intensified their calls for social and racial justice, which had subsided after the initial years following the Colin Kaepernick protests, following the brutal murder of George Floyd at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers.

As part of the bubble agreement, the NBA painted "Black Lives Matter" on all courts in the Florida bubble, as well as participated in a campaign to encourage voter registration.

Then the incident that nearly resulted in the death of Kenosha, Wisconsin native Jacob Blake occurred.

Incensed by the lack of accountability and ongoing racist actions, the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play in one of their first round games against the Orlando Magic. The move set off a chain reaction which resulted in postponements not just in the NBA, but the WNBA and MLB as well. The Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers both voted to end the season to make a statement, but in the end, the prevailing stance among NBA personnel was that their message of social justice would be better disseminated if play continued.