The National Basketball Player’s Association took the step that most expected them to take, as they have consulted with NBA commissioner Adam Silver over the past few months, approving the 22-team plan for a conclusion to the regular season, as well as a complete postseason, starting July 31 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Sources: The NBPA’s player representatives approved the NBA’s 22-team format to complete the 2019-2020 season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 5, 2020
The NBA voted unanimously to endorse the plan, proving to be another example that the union leadership was in lockstep with Silver throughout the NBA hiatus. Under the current plan, the 22 teams that are invited in terms of record to Walt Disney World, will play eight more regular season games each before moving on to a traditional 16-team playoff. If the 9th seed in either conference is within 4 games of the 8th seed, that will trigger a play-in series with the 9th seed.
The league has a tentative start date of July 31, while a tentative date for the start of free agency is currently set for October 18.
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