The NBA announced on Thursday that the league’s Board of Governors has agreed to continue the 2019-20 season starting July 31. The top 22 teams in the NBA, based on record, will participate.
Each team will play in eight games at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Flordia. After those games are played, there will be a “play-in tournament” for the final spot in each conference — but there is a catch to it, as explained in the league’s announcement:
If the team with the eighth-best combined record in its conference is more than four games ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined record in the same conference, then the team with the eighth-best record would earn the eighth playoff seed.
From there, the playoffs will commence in the standard fashion.
“The Board’s approval of the restart format is a necessary step toward resuming the NBA season,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in the league’s announcement. “While the COVID-19 pandemic presents formidable challenges, we are hopeful of finishing the season in a safe and responsible manner based on strict protocols now being finalized with public health officials and medical experts. We also recognize that as we prepare to resume play, our society is reeling from recent tragedies of racial violence and injustice, and we will continue to work closely with our teams and players to use our collective resources and influence to address these issues in very real and concrete ways.”
The last NBA Finals game, if needed, will take place on October 12.
Also, the league has agreed to reschedule the NBA Draft Lottery for August 25 and the 2020 NBA Draft for October 15.
Lastly, the NBA announced, “the 2020-21 NBA regular season would likely begin on Dec. 1, 2020.”
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