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Report: NBA's Board of Governors Discussing Starting 2020-21 Season in December
May 1, 2020
The NBA season is suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's looking likely that next year's season will be impacted as well.
Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke with the league's Board of Governors and continued discussions about starting the 2020-21 campaign in December, with an end date in late July or early August.
That news comes after Wojnarowski reported that the Board of Governors voted to postpone the NBA draft lottery and NBA Scouting Combine. The lottery was scheduled to take place on May 19, with the combine slated for May 21-24.
As Wojnarowski noted, the NBA's talks to delay next year are an effort to buy the league more time to safely welcome fans back into the stands.
"As the uncertainty around the pandemic continues, the NBA is anticipating a number of potential obstacles in immediately returning fans to its arenas in the coming months and year," Wojnarowski wrote.
As one executive told Wojnarowski, fans may not be allowed back into arenas in December, but pushing the regular season back a few months could allow for returns to occur at an earlier point in the season.
Furthermore, attempts to finish the 2019-20 season, which had over one month worth of regular-season games plus two postseason months left on the ledger, would push back the start of next year regardless. The season has been suspended for 52 days as of May 1.
The NBA has started its season in December once before in 2011 following a lockout that canceled the first two months of the year. The Association held a condensed 66-game schedule and finished the campaign in June 2012.