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Nuotr.: USA Today Sports-Scanpix
Nuotr. USA Today Sports-Scanpix
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver believes the league’s new season will begin next year.
When reaching out to CNN, Silver noted that last week he expected that in 2020-2021. The season managed to start at Christmas, but the arrival of information about the coronavirus forced the NBA commissioner to consider a later date.
Silver also revealed that the NBA is planning a regular season of 82-season regular-season games, followed by playoffs in regular format.
“We still have a lot to prepare, such as rapid coronavirus tests. Would that mean that spectators could return to the arenas? Should we take additional security measures?” Silver asked rhetorically.
Silver also made no secret of the fact that the upcoming NBA season could ruin the national team’s plans before the Tokyo Olympics.
“We have a lot of great basketball players from the US. And there is a scenario that the top 15 players will not compete in the Olympics and will be replaced by other good basketball players. Of course, there are many NBA players who represent other countries and we will try to address this situation, ”said the NBA commissioner.
The 82-season regular season is expected to end in June-July. It is during this period that the qualifying competition for the Tokyo Olympic Games will take place, in which countries such as Lithuania, Canada, Serbia, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia or Turkey will participate.
This would mean that stars like Domantas Sabonis, Luka Dončičius, Nikola Jokičius or Giannis Antetokounmpo could not help their national teams. If the teams of these basketball players continued their successful march into the playoffs, they would likely miss the Tokyo Olympics as well.
“We live in unique and unusual circumstances. This affects both the Tokyo Olympics and us. We will try to find ways that suit both parties,” Silveris concluded.
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