NBA targeting 72-game season for 2020-21, starting on Dec. 22

Starting the 2020-21 season earlier than expected would allow the league to move closer to its usual October to June calendar.

The NBA is targeting Dec. 22 as the first day of its 2020-21 regular season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Per Charania, the NBA league office informed team owners of this plan on Friday.

The regular season would be shortened to 72 games, which is 10 less than its usual length of 82 games. In turn, this would allow the league to edge closer to its usual October to June calendar for games — and perhaps fully back to that time frame by the 2021-22 season.

“This would mean a return close to the NBA’s normal schedule, significant financial ramifications to start early, a potential finish before the 2021 Summer Olympics, and allow a window for stars to play in the Olympics, sources said,” Charania wrote in his report.

The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), which is the union representing NBA players, still needs to sign off on the plan.

The previous expectation was for the 2020-21 season to begin in January or later. However, by starting the season earlier and reducing its length, it allows the NBA to avoid stretching the playoffs into the late summer or early fall, which would likely please its television partners.

TV ratings for the 2020 NBA playoffs were significantly down from 2019 levels, with increased competition from other sports (namely, football and the closing stretch of Major League Baseball) cited as a primary reason. If the NBA can hold its playoffs in something closer to its usual April-to-June window, basketball would be in a stronger position.

While the NBA’s short-term revenues from TV contracts are already locked in (assuming there are games), higher ratings and a greater appeal to advertisers could lead to more lucrative deals in the future.

Another reason to consider bumping up the NBA calendar is the rescheduled 2020 Olympics, which will be held in Japan starting in late July of 2021. Houston Rockets stars James Harden and Russell Westbrook were among those to have previously expressed interest in playing, and an expedited start to 2020-21 could allow the season to wrap up in time.

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Unlike the Florida “bubble” plan for the 2020 playoffs, the NBA is planning to hold games in 2020-21 in its usual home markets and arenas, with fans. However, it is unclear what capacity limits will be, given that the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to still be a factor well into 2021.

For playoff teams such as the Rockets, a December start date would make for a much shorter offseason than usual. However, given the league’s extensive time off from early March until early July due to COVID-19, players didn’t enter the current offseason with anywhere near the usual mileage on their bodies (at least not in terms of consecutive months).

The Dec. 22 start could also pose a challenge with regards to offseason free agency, which isn’t expected to occur until late November or early December. However, there is predecent for such a quick turnaround. After the 2011 lockout, the NBA opened free agency on Dec. 9 — barely more than two weeks before the season’s Christmas Day (Dec. 25) start.

If the NBPA signs off on this plan, it sounds as if a similar template could be utilized in 2020.

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