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The NBA season will be back very soon, after being out for a short time.
Despite the last NBA game being played on October 11, NBA players voted Friday to approve the league’s plan to begin the 2020-2021 season on December 22. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the 71 days between the end of last season and the start of next season is the shortest in history among the four major professional sports leagues.
The decision to start the league on that date is an attempt to increase revenue by taking advantage of the games on Christmas Day and the holiday week. According to USA Today, the start of the holiday week could be worth around $ 500 million in television revenue, among other key tax sources.
The season will also be shortened to just 72 games, scheduled to end before the possible start of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The Olympics are scheduled to begin on July 23.
For those, like me, who were hoping for a permanent December / Christmas start to the NBA season, those dreams could possibly be thwarted again. Like any other season, the Finals will end in mid-summer, putting the league close to its regular schedule. But ending in late July would also be more than a month and a half past the typical end of the season, which could possibly mean a mid-November or later start and another shorter season. At this time, it seems that the beginning of December 2021 is unlikely, but it is not completely ruled out.
Another thing to consider is the fact that, for years, there have been gossip from players and the media to cut the regular season down to just 70 games, which points to the complaints from the regular season and the playoffs are getting too long. . For all we know, this could be a test for a possible permanent change to the league’s schedule. On the other hand, the league’s decision to shorten the season to possibly return to the start of late October in 2021 would mean any consideration of permanent schedule changes is ruled out.
In the most NBA way, we may have to come to terms with the fact that absolutely NOTHING we want to see will come out of the drastic changes in the upcoming season. The decision to come back after just a little over two months and condense the season is just the NBA trying to get back to what we all know. But hey, at least there will be basketball.
The training camps are believed to be open in early December.
