History WebAnimation / GameOfZones

** House Raptors' home court of [[CanadaEh Tor'Onto]] is [[GrimUpNorth a primitive tundra]], covered in snow and ice even in the midst of summer.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Victor Oladipo to Damian Lillard, at least as far as their bard careers go. The other all-stars note that, while Dame is a good singer [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative for someone who's primarily a knight/player]], Oladipo is a great singer, period.

** Paul George tries to inspire House Pacers before a battle by listing some past Pacer greats, but once he gets past Reggie Miller and Jermaine of Neal, the names stop being recognizable. His invocation of Rik Smits is met with a confused "Who is Rip Smith?" from the crowd.

* ChekhovMIA: At the start of "The Mediadel", Shaq briefly mentions to Dwyane Wade that Charles Barkley is currently absent, but the subject is dropped before he can go into any detail. This at first seems like a reference to Chuck going into self-isolation due to the coronavirus outbreak, [[spoiler:but Ser Charles, now reverted to his 90's-era appearance and physique, appears at the end of the episode as one of the Dream Team]].

* ImplausibleDeniability: Lord Thibs continually insists that Jimmy Butler is quite happy to stay with House Timberwolves, and dismisses his AxCrazy behavior as "motivational intensity", even while Jimmy is rampaging through the courtyard and slaughtering other players while shrieking to be traded.

* LegionOfDoom: [[TheIlluminati The Order of the All-Seeing Eye]], a team of haughty, arrogant knights (Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Boogie Cousins, Jimmy Butler, Carmelo Anthony and Draymond Green) who feel that they've been snubbed by the Mediadel and want revenge.

'''Ujiri:''' Not just him. Also Jake-Jakob [[[TheUnpronouncable tries and fails to pronounce Jakob's name]]]... ''him''.

* RecognitionFailure: None of the members of the Mediadel have any idea who [[spoiler:White Walker!Christian Laettner]] is supposed to be, confusing him for several other average-looking white 90's basketball players before Dwyane Wade just gives up and says his name outright.

** Parodied with Paul George's pre-battle speech to House Pacers. It has all the hallmarks of a typical Rousing Speech, except he's inspiring them to try for ''slightly less mediocre'' than usual. They still cheer him on.

* SnubByOmission: When [=LeBron=] is tipsy at the draft lottery and starts roasting the other houses, he refuses to mock House Hornets even when asked to.

* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: Villainous example in Season 7. [[spoiler:Michael Jordan comes out of retirement once more to reunite the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_United_States_men%27s_Olympic_basketball_team Dream Team]], using the remains of the Soul Box to restore them all to their primes, to get back at [=LeBron=] and the whole realm for "turning the game soft".]]

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: [[spoiler:White Walker versions of John Stockton and Karl Malone appear to terrorize Pascal Siakam and Fred [=VanVleet=] as the Dream Team begin to resurface.]]

'''''[[https://gameofzones.bleacherreport.com Game of Zones]]''''' is a web series made by sports website Bleacher Report, which ran from May 16, 2014 to May 21, 2020. It began as an AffectionateParody of ''Series/GameOfThrones'' centered around [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA basketball]]. Eventually, the series focused less on blatant ''Game of Thrones'' references and more on the NBA ones. Each team is a different "House" (House Spurs, House Cavs, etc.). It can be seen on Website/YouTube [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoqDIJHlyN3NIPW9D37rQEceGNZEiRmMX here]].

* BullyingADragon: [[spoiler:Michael Jordan may be long retired, but [=LeBron=]'s off-the-cuff boast that he's better than him now is still enough to get under his skin, and his infamously competitive nature won't let him take it lying down...]]

** In the early seasons, House Warriors are portrayed as rough-and-tumble band of Night's Watch-types. By the time they acquire Kevin of Durant at the beginning of season 4, they've become a house of haughty, decadent aristocrats.

-->'''Nikola Jokić:''' I heard that our world was made when the gods smashed two universes together. [[SelfDeprecation That's why it doesn't make much sense, you know?]]

* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: Villainous example in Season 7. [[spoiler:Michael Jordan comes out of retirement once more to reunite [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_United_States_men%27s_Olympic_basketball_team the Dream Team]], using the remains of the Spurs' Soul Box to restore them all to their primes, to get back at [=LeBron=] and the whole realm for "turning the game soft".]]

** House Hornets reside in an overgrown, hive-covered citadel in the middle of a lush, technicolor North Carolinian swamp.
* AssumedWin: As Lord Silver describes the final selected Knight of the Round Ball as "an undersized and often controversial, but incredibly savvy" Point Guard, Kyrie Irving straightens up expectantly, and receives some premature kudos from Kevin Durant, before Silver reveals he's talking about Christ Paul.

** [[spoiler:The Sun Kings "superhouse" is finally realized in Season 7, when they arrive to help defend the realm against the Dream Team. They get waxed in about 6 seconds.]]

** When [=LeBron=]'s sedan passes by the Kobe statue in Los Angeles, it briefly [[StuckInTheirShadow casts a shadow]] over him.

* StealthPun: The Clippers, as described by Pat Beverly, are "smooth sailing", referring to how well-run they are, but also a play on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper their namesake]].

** [[spoiler:The Sun Kings "superhouse" is finally realized in Season 7, when they arrive to help defend the realm against the Dream Team.]]

'''''[[https://gameofzones.bleacherreport.com Game of Zones]]''''' is a web series made by sports website Bleacher Report. It began as an AffectionateParody of ''Series/GameOfThrones'' centered around [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA basketball]]. Since then the creators have expressed a desire to focus less on blatant ''Game of Thrones'' references and more on the NBA ones. Each team is a different "House" (House Spurs, House Cavs, etc.). It can be seen on Website/YouTube [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoqDIJHlyN3NIPW9D37rQEceGNZEiRmMX here]].

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Nikola Jokić does this a couple times in "TheLongEpisode":
-->'''Nikola Jokić:''' I heard that our world was made when the gods smashed two universes together. [[SelfDeprecationHumor That's why it doesn't make much sense, you know?]]

* ImportantHaircut: Following a pep talk from Kobe, [=LeBron=] prepares to face [[spoiler:The Dream Team]] by cutting his head bald.

* ChekhovMIA: At the start of "The Mediadel", Shaq briefly mentions to Dwyane Wade that Charles Barkley is currently absent, but the subject is dropped before he can go into any detail. This at first seems like a reference to Chuck going into self-isolation due to the coronavirus outbreak, [[spoiler:but Sir Charles, now reverted to his 90's-era appearance and physique, appears at the end of the episode as one of the Dream Team]].

* For Season 6, [=LeBron's=] stage production of "[[Film/SpaceJam Sea Jam 2]]".
* [[spoiler:The Sun Kings "superhouse" is finally realized in Season 7, when they arrive to help defend the realm against the Dream Team.]]

* LegionOfDoom: [[TheIlluminati The Order of the All-Seeing Eye]], a team of haughty, arrogant knights (Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Boogie Cousins, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green) who feel that they've been snubbed by the Mediadel and want revenge.

* RecognitionFailure: As proof of Michael Jordan and the Dream Team's return, Dwyane Wade and Brian Windhorse bring in a captured Christian Laettner. However this reveal is hampered by none of the Mediadel members recognizing Laettner at all, confusing him for several other average-looking white 90's basketball players until Wade gives up and just says who it is.

* BrickJoke: For Season 6, [=LeBron's=] stage production of "[[Film/SpaceJam Sea Jam 2]]".

* LegionOfDoom: The Order of the All-Seeing Eye, a team of haughty, arrogant knights (Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Boogie Cousins, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green) who feel that they've been snubbed by the Mediadel and want revenge.

* StartMyOwn: After Kyrie Irving is snubbed from becoming a member of the Knights of the Round Ball, he leaves with other likeminded egotistical hotheads to create his own superhouse called [[TheIlluminati the Order of the All-Seeing Eye]].

* LegionOfDoom: The Order of the All-Seeing Eye, a team of haughty, [[ItsAllAboutMe attention-seeking]] knights (Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Russel Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Boogie Cousins, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green) united solely by their common hatred of the Mediadel for constantly "snubbing" them.

** After six seasons of Nikola Jokić and House Nuggets only ever appearing on the show in a [[TheStinger stinger]] about Jokić [[LampshadeHanging complaining that]] [[SnubByOmission House Nuggets never appears on the show]], they're finally given their due when Jokić is selected by the Mediadel to be a member of the Knights of the Round Ball[[note]]Albeit as a replacement for the fallen Ser Giannis[[/note]].

** Kobe Bryant's reputation as a self-absorbed ballhog is exaggerated here. He refuses to pass the ceremonial torch at his retirement ceremony ("Just get the rebound!"), built a shrine to honor himself, and secretly leads an extremist sect of his fans to harass [=LeBron=].

--->'''Fred VanVleet:''' ''(while gagging)'' Am I dying?\\

** The Raptors choking after being poisoned by King James is attributed to the team's tendency (prior to 2019) for [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut "choking" at the hands of the Cavaliers in the playoffs three years in a row]].

** After six seasons of Nikola Jokić and House Nuggets only ever appearing on the show as a [[TheStinger stinger]] of Jokić [[LampshadeHanging complaining about]] [[SnubByOmission House Nuggets never appearing on the show]], they're finally given their due when Jokić is selected by the Mediadel to be a member of the Knights of the Round Ball[[note]]Albeit as a replacement for the fallen Ser Giannis[[/note]].

** After six seasons of Nikola Jokić and House Nuggets only ever appearing on the show as a [[TheStinger stinger]] of Jokic [[LampshadeHanging complaining about]] [[SnubByOmission House Nuggets never appearing on the show]], they're finally given their due when Jokić is selected by the Mediadel to be a member of the Knights of the Round Ball[[note]]Albeit as a replacement for the fallen Giannis[[/note]].
--->'''Nikola Jokić:''' Ha-hey, yeah! House Nuggets, we did it!

** After six seasons of Nikola Jokić and House Nuggets only ever appearing on the show as a [[TheStinger stinger]] of Jokic [[LampshadeHanging complaining about]] [[SnubByOmission House Nuggets never appearing on the show]], Jokić is selected by the Mediadel to be a member of the Knights of the Round Ball[[note]]Albeit as a replacement for the fallen Giannis[[/note]].
--->'''Jokić:''' He-hey, yeah! House Nuggets, we did it!

** After six seasons of Nikola Jokic and House Nuggets [[SnubByOmission never appearing on the show]] (except for a [[TheStinger stinger]] of Jokic [[LampshadeHanging complaining about House Nuggets never appearing on the show]]), Jokic is selected by the Mediadel to be a member of the Knights of the Round Ball[[note]]Albeit as a replacement for Giannis.[[/note]].
--->'''Jokic:''' He-hey, yeah! House Nuggets, we did it!

* ThrowTheDogABone: "Melo and the Model" is mostly dedicated to making fun of Carmelo, but it ''does'' admit that he deserves to be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: A FreezeFrameBonus in Wind Horse's book on the Soul Box in "Pick 'n' Roll" reveals that James Naismith (known as "Neigh Smith") was an alchemist and potions maker who invented the game of basketball as a safe way to test his performance-enhancing. concoctions. Additionally, Lionel Messi, Michael Phelps, Roger Federer, Derek Jeter, and Wayne Gretzky were the knights who helped expand Balleros.