NBA commissioner Adam Silver has stated the next season won’t start at least until January of 2021. We are going through the last stages of the postseason but fans are already wondering what is going to happen in the next campaign. Talking with CNN’s Bob Costas, Silver said he doesn’t expect the league to return until the turn of the year.
Silver revealed the league wants to play next season in its usual home markets, contrary to what they’re doing now, playing out the rest of the season in a bubble in Orlando, Florida. They want a ‘standard season’ even having some fans in attendance.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver tells Bob Costas on @CNN that his “best guess” is that next season will begin in January at the earliest
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) September 22, 2020
Adam Silver, in a CNN interview with Bob Costas, said the goal for 20-21 is "to play a standard season." Said Christmas start is best case, but unlikely. The start of 20-21 season, he said, is "better off getting into January." Said goal to play in home arenas, in front of fans.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) September 22, 2020
Players union executive director Michele Roberts had previously stated she didn’t believe the next season was going to start in December, as many people thought.
“I do think we’ll have a season, but I don’t think it will begin in December,” Roberts told David Gelles of the New York Times. “Some bubble-like environment may be necessary. I suspect that we will have a hybrid environment, maybe with division bubbles that last for a certain number of months, and then we stop. But the concept of putting our players in a bubble for an entire season is unrealistic.”
The league announced November 18 as the day of the 2020 NBA draft.
Adam Silver told CNN a few minutes ago that he does not anticipate the 2020-21 season beginning until at least January (so is it really a 2020-21 season?) and said the league wants 82 games, with playoffs.
At what point do they just say NBA players aren't going to the Olympics?
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) September 22, 2020
Back in March, the association suspended its activities due to the coronavirus outbreak and it was uncertain that the season was going to resume. Now things are about to finish and the picture looks clear for the next campaign. They still need to figure out what to do since the Olympics are taking place in the summer of 2021 and players and coaches wouldn’t be able to attend the event.
