NBA players are letting it be known that they’re less than thrilled with the parameters of the NBA’s return-to-play proposal, but the league is pressing forward, nonetheless.
At this point, the expectation is that play will resume on July 30, with The Athletic’s Shams Charania reporting specific dates for the resumption and conclusion of the season.
Before the resumption, though, teams will have formal training camps, and before that, head coaches will need to be given the green light to reconvene with their players in order to give individual attention. It appears that the latter will be allowed on and after June 23.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski published a report with the June 23 date while also giving word that players who have traveled outside of the United States must report back by June 15.
The NBA has given teams a full training camp timeline, with head coaches allowed to work with players beginning June 23, according to a memo obtained by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski…
Beginning on June 23, a head coach can be one of the two coaches working with players in voluntary workouts, the memo outlines.
Any workouts must be voluntary, meaning that teams will not have been given the green light to resume mandatory team workouts by that time, but they will by July 9 — that’s the date that teams are expected to begin their three-week-long training camp before the season resumes.
Charania tweeted some specific time intervals after noting that training camps will take place from July 9 to July 29. The season will resume on July 30 and will see each team play eight games in a 15-day span.
The playoffs will then begin.
Sources: NBA's expected restart dates:
– July 30-Aug. 14: Seeding games
– Aug.15-16: Play-in tournaments
– Aug. 17: Playoffs begin
– Aug. 30: Family/guests of teams arrive
– Aug. 31-Sept. 13: Conf. Semifinals
– Sept. 15-Sept. 28: Conf. Finals
– Sept. 30-Oct. 13: NBA Finals— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 12, 2020
For those who wish to see basketball return, the timeline’s coming together continues to be positive news. At this point, the major question seems to be whether your favorite players will actually participate.
That is another question altogether.