Report: NBA to Propose 22-Team Restart in Board of Governors Call on Thursday
When NBA Commissioner Adam Silver meets with the Board of Governors on a call Thursday, he will reportedly lay out a 22-team format to resume the 2019-20 season.ย
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the new structure is expected to include the 16 teams that would have been in the playoffs when the season was suspended in March and six additional teams, with a play-in tournament for the No. 8 seed in both conferences.
"If the ninth seed is more than four games behind the eighth seed, the eighth seed earns the playoff spot; if the ninth seed is four or fewer games behind, then the eighth and ninth seed will enter a play-in tournament that is double-elimination for the eighth seed and single-elimination for ninth," Charania wrote.
Charania noted this proposal was drawn up based on "feedback, collaborative discussions and input" the NBA received from people throughout the league.ย
Per ESPN'sย Adrian Wojnarowski, Thursday's Board of Governors call will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET, and the "intention" is to approve the 22-team restart plan.ย
Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburneย reported on May 29 after a Board of Governors call that there was "growing support" for a season restart with 22 teams centralized atย Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.ย
Charania noted that the league discussed four different return scenariosย during the call last week, but two of themโ โone that would skip right to the playoffs with the top eight teams in each conference and another bringing back all 30 teams to finish a 72-game regular season with a play-in tournamentโ โrecently lost traction.
According toย Wojnarowski, the six teams not currently among the top 16 that will play in Orlando include five Western Conference clubs (New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs) and the Washington Wizards in the Eastern Conference.ย
The Trail Blazers, Pelicans, Kings and Spurs were all within four games of the Memphis Grizzlies for the No. 8 seed in the West when play was suspended. The Wizards were 5.5 games behind the Orlando Magic for the final playoff spot in the East.
Bleacher Report's David Gardner interviews athletes and other sports figures for the podcastย How to Survive Without Sports.
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