By Cruz Lena
The Covid-19 greatly affected the National Basketball Association. Last March, Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus which led the league to suspend its games indefinitely. On July 30, the NBA resumed its operations at Walt Disney World in Orlando.
The 2020 NBA Finals will take place on September 30 and will possibly conclude on October 13. This schedule will have a huge impact on the offseason and in every affair of the league. The turn of events this season will surely affect the sports picks as well.
The bubble has been successful to this point. The question about when will the NBA start its 2020-2021 season remains.
Once this current season is finished, players will need time to regain themselves after playing in March then taking a break for three months due to Covid-19. And then last July, the NBA resumed its operation again in the bubble. Also, teams need enough time to make changes in their team and rosters especially with the upcoming free agency and draft.
The NBA is considering several options involving the offseason, draft dates, and the next season. The playoffs this year began so late so there is a huge possibility that the 2020-2021 season will be delayed.
As per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, NBA commissioner Adam Silver talked with the league’s board of governors. The December 1 start date for the 2020-2021 NBA season is more likely to be postponed. That date feels a bit early according to the commissioner.
This is not shocking news after all. A report said that before entering the bubble, the players were told by the National Basketball Players Association that the December 1 date was tentative. According to The Athletic, the league informed all teams that the agreed dates for the beginning of the next season were postponed.
There is a rumor that the upcoming season may start on Christmas Day as it is one of the most thrilling days of the regular season. The best teams in the league usually face each other during Christmas so it will be a perfect day to start the season.
The NBA is also considering to start the season in January 2021 as the Covid-19 continues to bring uncertainty for everyone. With this, there is a possibility that the next season will clash in the timeline of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics which was rescheduled to happen in July 2021 due to Covid-19. If this happens, NBA players will not be able to join their national basketball team.
The discovery of the Covid-19 vaccination will greatly affect whether fans could watch games in person or not. The start of the season is expected to be pushed depending if the fans can get into arenas again.
Silver told ESPN that getting back fans into arenas is the league’s main goal. The league wants the games to happen in arenas in front of the fans rather than in another private facility. The revenue that the fans bring when they watch games has a huge impact on the league.
Every season, the NBA gains almost $8 billion in revenues and 40% of this comes from ticket sales and in-game sponsorships. The NBA has lost in-games profits for the past months so the opening of arenas will be better for the league.
As of now, there is no final answer on how, when, and where the NBA 2020-2021 season will happen. The decision to be made in the next months will greatly affect the flow of the NBA forever.
The decision whether to implement the bubble games again or wait until fans are allowed to enter arenas will surely change the course of the league for the next season.
The NBA 2020-2021 season might begin on Christmas Day, January, or February next year. The league will ensure that the next season will be filled with new players and more exciting games.
