Rockets Danuel House kicked out of NBA bubble for letting a woman into his room



Not that Danuel House is an amazing basketball player, but if the Rockets had any chance of coming back from their 2-1 deficit to the Lakers they needed the key rotation player. They struggled mightily in his absence in Game 4 and now face the tall task of having to win three straight. Danuel House will not be part of that quest as he's been jettisoned from the NBA bubble.

The punishment fits the "Bubble Law," but is also interesting. If the Rockets lose Game 5 and get eliminated well you can say that the loss of House for those two games played a big part. But of Houston somehow came back to beat the Lakers and then made it all the way to the NBA Finals, then that would be a ton of games that House and the Rockets were punished for. The assumption by the NBA is likely that the Rockets are dead men walking right now, so the latter situation doesn't really cross their mind.

One could also ask whether the punishment would be the same if it was a marquee name like LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard? Personally I like that they have the strict rule. The only way the bubble was going to work was to be strict. Just hope there aren't any favorites being played here.