Not a typical NBA se fee ason, roughly, somewhere between three to five months depending on how you playoffs and how far you go. This is not a typical se fee ason. The Los Angeles Lakers won the 2020 Championship at the Orlando Bubble on October 12. On Thursday, the NBPA approved a proprietary proposal to start the 2020-21 season on December 2220, to create a television slate for exciting daily games on Christmas day.
So do the math, and that’s nine weeks between last season’s final game and next season’s first game. Throw in a training camp, and that’s a two-month exemption for the Lakers and Heat, and a few more weeks for the Nuggets and Celtics, who both made the conference finals.
It’s a short turn, especially considering the uniquely complex conditions in the bubble. No, the teams didn’t have to travel, and that’s a big deal. But, they basically had to play every other day through play-through fs. The players didn’t, and probably still don’t, like starting next season early, but they agreed for one simple reason: money.
It is being speculated that the league will build up to a loss of around half a billion dollars by pushing the start of the 2020-21 season in January to a few more weeks, and the players know the losses will reach their pocketbooks. As it settles, it will start on December 22 and play 72 games, 10 less than the usual 82-game slate, which will allow them to finish the season on a normal timeline and, equally, start the 2021-22 season on time, While the hope is that the epidemic will become a thing of the past and the league can return to its normal wind path again.
Until then, expect to see lots of load managing by many teams, including LeBron James and the Lakers. LeBron is entering his 18th season. He will turn 36 on December 30. He has just won his fourth championship and knows it’s a legitimate shot to win No. 5 next season. He’s not going to spoil his leg by quickly pushing himself into the early part of the schedule.
For what A little more playoff seed? There is no chance. Anthony Davis will also pass the time. And my guess is that the NBA will soften its stance on the healthy stars sitting in the game, which despite the various successes they have tried to prevent in the past season. You’d think the league’s product is for players who get financial rewards for its popularity, but they wouldn’t risk their bodies for a Tuesday night game in January or a Wednesday night game in February, and they’ll probably miss most of the time in between. Here are three games. A week there. who knows.
LeBron just got tough this past season. He played in 67 of the regular season games, averaging about 35 minutes per game. Yes, there was an extended break from March to August as the game stalled amid an epidemic in the league, but in some ways it became difficult. LeBron and everyone else had to stay in shape to know when this season would come again, so it’s really a full calendar lender year, from October 2019 to October October 2020, that these people couldn’t completely separate from the NBA basketball. It is a mental grind as much as a physical one. And LeBron will not be alone in recalling some of that time, at least at the start of this fast 2020-21 season, if not by way of most of them.
