Philadelphia 76ers: Matisse Thybulle, rookie to YouTube star

As the Philadelphia 76ers get back to where they left off in March, Matisse Thybulle is finding a way to document the unusual and unique experience for NBA fans to see. 

Matisse Thybulle easily and quickly became a fan favorite for the Philadelphia 76ers. His charming personality and quick defensively-minded game captured the hearts of many. The team’s social media page instantly became full of Matisse content, of him throwing up a quick peace sign or acting goofy during warmups.

Once the coronavirus took over the world and put all sports on hold, we began missing his content. As you probably know, he started a TikTok account and gave the people an inside look into what he was up to during quarantine. From building Legos to learning dances, the shooting guard definitely kept himself from getting too bored. He gained a pretty big following on the popular video app (a little over 156,000 followers).

Once the NBA announced that they would resume their season by creating the “bubble” at Walt Disney World, people began to question what life would be like for the players and how they would keep themselves safe from the virus. The organization explained that players would arrive at the sports campus, get tested for the virus, quarantine in individual hotel rooms, and not be able to leave the premise (basically).

When someone hears this they may think, “Oh gosh, that sounds horrible. It’s like the NBA is holding the players captive.” In a sense, yes there is a “captive-like” aspect, but the players get to choose if they want to resume the season in these conditions. Also, the players have more freedom than one may think.

In Matisse’s first video blog (or vlog) on YouTube, he filmed himself packing up and getting ready for the “bubble” excursion. He also filmed himself taking care of one of his “rookie duties”, which one is to purchase food for the entire team when they travel anywhere. If you’ve kept up with the rookie and the team’s endeavors, you’d know that there’s a running joke that Matisse messed up the order for the entire team. This resulted in an outburst by two of the team’s veterans, Kyle O’Quinn and Tobias Harris.

From there, Matisse showed the players getting tested, his hotel room, the food they’re given, and the gear that the NBA gave each player, which included team-printed masks. He unpacked his things and settled into his room, in which he’ll be staying in for the next three months.

Once the quarantine period was over for the players, they were allowed to start practicing with one another. Matisse showed how competitive he and the Philadelphia 76ers get just in practice, which is a good sign of how this odd season will go. It helped to show the player dynamics outside of games to the fans.

He also helped to give an inside look to the activities that the players are allowed to partake in inside the “bubble”. Some of these include fishing either on a boat or dock, playing card and board games with teammates, golfing (even though they should just stick to basketball), and drinking a nice alcoholic beverage to end the day.

Matisse has gained a huge following (307,000 subscribers) in just the short amount of time that the Sixers have been in Florida. He’s become such a sensation that he’s been interviewed by the New York Times and Good Morning America.

With the limited amount of media allowed in the “bubble”, to maintain a high level of safety, Matisse’s videos add a unique view of this odd resumption of a season. Fans of the Sixers and the NBA get to see an inside look through the youngster’s eyes.