December 22 start date would leave just seven weeks before the opening of the new NBA season and there is no indication when or if games will be played in front of fans; NBA Draft is scheduled for November 18, with training camps likely to begin in early in December
Friday 6 November 2020 06:39, UK
The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) says it has tentatively approved December 22 as the start date for the 2020/21 season with a reduced 72-game schedule.
The 2019/20 season was only completed in October after a four-month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with teams competing in a bio-secure bubble at Walt Disney World in Orlando.
The start date announcement followed a formal vote of player representatives, NPBA said.
"Additional details remain to be negotiated and the NBPA is confident that the parties will reach agreement on these remaining issues relevant to the upcoming season," the NBPA said in a statement.
The NBA Draft is scheduled for November 18, with training camps likely to begin in early December.
ESPN had reported, citing unnamed sources, that finishing the 2020-21 season before next year's Tokyo Olympics in mid-July would be worth between $500m and $1 billion in short and long-term revenues to the league and players.
The December 22 start date would leave just seven weeks before the opening of the new season and there is no indication when or if games will be played in front of fans.
The NBA became the first pro league to suspend play amid the COVID-19 pandemic, doing so on March 11.
The Los Angeles Lakers won the title during the most peculiar of seasons, defeating the Miami Heat in a six-game NBA Finals that was played only in front of the players' family and close friends.
The Lakers earned their deciding 106-93 victory over the Heat on October 11, just 11 days shy of making it a full year from when they started their regular-season schedule with a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
