(Photo by Angelo Merendino/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND--NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will soon make a decision on completing the 2019-2020 NBA season.
Many top players including LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant are in favor of returning to the floor. Games would take place without fans for the foreseeable future which would be troublesome considering almost half of the NBA's revenue comes from live gate. The Athletic's Shams Charania has more on Adam Silver's call.
- Look for a decision to be made within 2-4 weeks. There's now a timetable in place for either a possible return or cancellation. Remember back in late March that they needed to wait until May to make some kind of a decision. We are on-track with the NBA's timetable.
- If it's safe to play, the star players and owners want to finish the season......again "if it's safe." Can the NBA provide daily or weekly testing of all employees? Remember, they are not the only major sports organization looking to resume their season (NHL) or start a new season (MLB). Also, they cannot have all the testing as the general public needs it to.....uh live.
- Do you pick up with further regular season play or immediately start with the NBA Playoffs?
The issue is two-fold for most non-playoff teams. While most of those teams will not make the playoffs, TV contracts most be fulfilled.
The tweet above does not make clear of which RSNs have this deal with the NBA, but most teams including the Cavs have deals with Sinclair (formally Fox Sports). The Cavs have played 65 games.
Let's talk locations/Possible Schedule
Sources report Disney World and Las Vegas are possible singular locations for games. Arizona also announced major league sports can be played starting Saturday May 16th.
To me, hosting training camp and playoff games in Disney World with just 16 teams is the best course of action. With only 16 teams to protect, the NBA can finish the season in a timely fashion and testing would be available for those who leave and re-enter Disney World. With what we know, here's what I expect the schedule would look like if the season resumes with the NBA Playoffs in Disney World:
Training Camp 2.0
June 15th-July 1st
NBA Playoffs (1st Round)
July 4th-18th
NBA Playoffs (2nd Round)
July 18th or 19th-August 2nd/3rd
NBA Playoffs (Conference Finals)
August 2nd/3rd-August 17th
NBA Finals
Game 1: Thu 8/20
Game 2: Sun 8/23
Game 3: Wed 8/26
Game 4: Fri 8/28
Game 5: Mon 8/31
Game 6: Thu 9/3
Game 7: Sun 9/6 (Labor Day Weekend)