The NBA is considering all options to salvage this season. During a conference call with National Basketball Players Association, the league’s commissioner Adam Silver reportedly said the season could be resumed in one or two locations. The other issue is timing – how long the season will last.
Previously, it has been reported that the NBA would like to crown the champion before the Labor Day weekend. According to the Los Angeles Lakers forward Jared Dudley, Silver said the season could extend as far as into October. If that is the case, then the new season would be starting as late as December or even early next year.
The change in schedule, caused by the pandemic, could be permanent. It has been reported in the past that at least some team owners support the idea of pushing the start of a season to the end of the year. This would inevitably clash with the national teams’ calendar as international games are played either in the summer or early September.
While this would understandably upset the national teams and their fans, many NBA team owners prefer to not let their players represent their countries and instead for them focus on getting ready for the coming season.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics that are set to take place next July will be a good test in case the 2020-21 NBA season extends into the summer. This will mostly affect Team USA that was supposed to bring most of their superstars to the Olympics.
