The NBA and its players union have been having conversations about the league’s business and when the 2020-21 season will begin. The league’s owners prefer beginning next season on Dec. 22, while the players, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, are favoring tipping off next season on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day — January 18, 2021.
That there is some disagreement between the sides shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. As a class, the players are the product, and they are the ones that have to actually play the games. In the not-so-distant past, it was thought that the league would pursue a normal offseason schedule, which would have had the 2020-21 season beginning sometime after February, however, in recent days, those sympathies have changed, as the league’s owners are reportedly conceding that next season will likely be truncated anyway and largely played without fans.
Officially, the league’s proposal to its players, as reported by The Athletic, has the season beginning on Dec. 22 with players reporting for training camp on Dec. 1. Each team would play a truncated schedule of 72 games with a play-in tournament to determine the final playoff seed, similar to what transpired in Orlando.
Yahoo Sources: Substantial faction of players and star players pushing for NBA season to start Jan. 18 — MLK Day — with a free-agency commencement of Dec. 1.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) October 28, 2020
The thought behind the extremely shortened offseason is to have the 2020-21 campaign end in July in time for the Olympics. The hope is that by the time the 2021-22 season tips off that the coronavirus pandemic would be under control and that life would be close to normal.
Understandably, however, the players don’t seem so keen on the relatively short offseason. In addition to Haynes’ report, NBPA executive director Michele Roberts spoke with The Athletic and said enough to raise some serious doubt as to whether the players would agree to reconvene in time for a Dec. 22 tip-off.
“Given all that has to be resolved between now and a Dec. 22 date, factoring that there will be financial risks by a later start date, it defies common sense that it can all be done in time… Our players deserve the right to have some runway so that they can plan for a start that soon. The overwhelming response from the players that I have received to this proposal has been negative.”
As it stands, the league and the players union will meet on Friday to make some important decisions about the collective bargaining agreement and whether either side will terminate it, which isn’t considered likely.