"Fu— you guys... we are in a war zone now" - Goran Dragic explains why the Heat avoided everyone in the Orlando Bubble originally appeared on Basketball Network .
For a brief moment in 2020, everything in the world stopped due to the COVID pandemic outbreak. Streets were empty, arenas were silent and the NBA was suddenly on hold. But eventually, just like everything in life, the show had to go on.
The league came up with a never-before-seen solution: an isolated, fan-less environment inside Disney World, where players would quarantine and finish the season in what was called "The New Normal."
The Bubble was born right there.
Twenty-one teams were surviving the new environment, and then there was the Miami Heat squad. No distractions, no noise, just business and being absolutely locked in. One of the key guys who can attest to their relentless mentality was Goran Dragic .
The Slovenian lefty explained how everyone from the Heat was staying close together, not mixing with the other players in that complex, also sharing quite a unique approach; they were just plain "rude" to everyone else.
"Yeah, we didn't talk to nobody. We were like, fu– you guys, we not talking," Dragic recalled in an exclusive interview with Basketball Network .
"It was so funny, because you have all your ex-teammates, they walk by you, and you are just nothing. We are in a war zone now…" the retired guard added.
It was obvious back then that this was something that the professionals weren't used to. Many players were open about how tough it was to be away from their families for that long, without their fans to support them when they really needed it and with all those rigorous testing routines. To be completely honest, one can only imagine how surreal the whole thing felt, even from the outside looking in.
However, instead of letting the environment drain them, the Heat flipped the script and used it to bond between themselves even more. There was no hanging out with friends from other teams, no catching up with old teammates in the hallways. It was just them and the boring routine of the Bubble.
That was part of what made the Heat team so dangerous in Orlando. As the competition progressed, they looked even better than before, while their opponents seemed somewhat lost at that moment.
What followed was one of the most unexpected runs in modern NBA history. The Heat bulldozed through the Indiana Pacers , knocked off the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks , and outlasted the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Erik Spoelstra's men looked invincible. But, then, injuries happened just as it looked like they were going to go all the way for the first time since LeBron James left.
Dragic was at the center of it all, averaging 19.1 points per game in the playoffs before suffering a heartbreaking foot injury in the Finals. And to this day, he believes they would've gone all the way if they were at full strength .
"I mean, of course, I'm always gonna say yes," Dragic said about their title chances. "You have to be confident, especially in the NBA. Not only me, even Bam Adebayo got hurt."
That Heat team carried a "war zone" mentality from day one, and if you ask The Dragon, that edge would've taken them all the way. Only if they had been healthy...
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
