Life inside the bubble in Orlando hasn’t been without its challenges, albeit relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. The food quality has topped the list for many players and even resulted in a the breaking of quarantine protocols to get outside meals delivered.
The other main challenge is being separated from friends and family for an extended period, and thus unable, in many cases, to celebrate certain milestones like weddings and birthdays. Fortunately, the NBA is a brotherhood, and their surrogate family is there to help them share in those events.
But as it the case in so many families and roommate situations, food is liable to turn up missing. That’s what happened to Pelicans big man Derrick Favors last month when it came time to dive into his birthday cake and discovered that a theft had taken place inside the bubble.
Via Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports:
The rookies sang “Happy Birthday” after practice and Favors was notified that a cake awaited him and his teammates in their meal room. But once they arrived, the cake was gone.
Someone from outside the team had swiped Favors’ birthday cake.
But the case doesn’t stop there. In an effort to remedy the situation, team officials placed an order for cupcakes that arrived the next day. However, when they went to get the cupcakes from the refrigerator, someone had again already stolen all but one of them.
Favors, who turned 29 last month, is averaging 9 points and 9.9 rebounds so far this season for the Pelicans, but is averaging 0 cakes and 0 cupcakes in the bubble.