According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, a sizeable number of stars are pushing back against the December start date picking up steam by the NBA.
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
With major revenue losses during the 2019-20 season, the NBA is working hard to find a solution that can make up some ground financially. Starting the season in December, in time for the annual and highly-anticipated Christmas Day games would help generate a lot of attention and revenue in just the opening week.
Unfortunately, many stars have expressed concern with the date, citing it’s too soon and doesn’t allow a long enough off-season.
Earlier this week, Danny Green went so far as to predict that LeBron, and many other veterans, would skip the first month of action if the season began in December.
“He’s been in The Finals 10 out of 17 years… it’s draining to do that, and to have that quick of a restart, I wouldn’t expect to see him there. I wouldn’t expect to see him for the first month of the season.”
Obviously, a lot of players are advocating for a start on MLK Day (January 18), which would give guys a whole extra month to prepare for the grind.
Nothing has been set in stone as of now, but with the financial implications of missing out on the Christmas Day games, any further delay to the 2020-21 season could really hurt their pockets.
They’re going to try their best to get the players on board for that mid-December tip-off.
