A flurry of announcements came across the news docket on Sunday evening as the NBA moved into a more long-term phase of its suspension. With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announcing further recommendations, including no events of 50-plus people for the next eight weeks, NBA owners and executives are anticipating a mid-summer return to the court.
From ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, NBA owners and executives are bracing for the possibility of mid-to-late June as a best-case scenario for the league’s return, sources told ESPN on Sunday.
Wojnarowski’s piece states the league’s current plan of bringing the league back without fans, though the owners and executives are open to other ideas.
For now, there’s a working plan that games would return without fans, and teams have been told to search out arena dates well into August for the playoffs, sources said. Teams have been directed to give the league office potential dates at smaller nearby game venues, including team practice facilities, that could spare the use of empty, cavernous arenas and possibly provide backdrops to unique television viewing lines.
The league’s plans continue to be fluid as things are routinely changing as the country learns more and more about the coronavirus. For now, it appears the league’s plan is to see out the end of the 2019-20 season rather than shorten or abandon it and begin the 2020-21 season.
The ramifications of that could be lasting, though. It’s highly unlikely the league could restart in June, finish in either July or August then start the new season by October. This could be the beginning of a change in the league’s calendar or it could lead to an abbreviated 2020-21 season that may not start until December or later.
Whatever the ripple effects may be, this will have a lasting change on the league and the players and teams in it.
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