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There will be no international games on the NBA schedule next season, but there is hope that teams will return to playing in nearly-full stadiums in 2021-22 as the United States takes control of the COVID-19 pandemic, said the Commissioner Adam Silver on Saturday at his pre-All-Star press conference.
With last year’s season in a quarantine bubble in Orlando and the current season being played in mostly empty arenas, Silver said the resumption of international games will be on hold until at least the 2022-23 season.
“First of all, there are no plans to travel for next season yet,” Silver said, speaking before Sunday’s All-Star Game in Atlanta. “In all likelihood, we will not travel internationally until next season.
“But the plan is still to try to resume our season as close to supposed normal as possible next year.
“Frankly, I am quite optimistic at this point that we will be able to start on time and that about half of our teams have fans in their arenas right now.
“If vaccines continue at the rate they are, and continue to be as effective as they have been against the virus and its variants, we are hopeful that we will have relatively full arenas next season as well.”
This season is scheduled to end in mid-July, which will allow players who want to participate in the Olympics to go to Tokyo.
Silver also noted that a final in July will give players a chance to bounce back as the league looks to return to a regular cycle.
Although there are currently no plans to return to a quarantine bubble for the NBA playoffs, Silver said he could not rule out the possibility.
“I’m not ruling anything out just because one thing we’ve all come to understand over the past year is that the virus is firmly in charge,” Silver said, adding that the league will not require players to get vaccinated against COVID. 19. “We need to adapt to circumstances as they arise.
“I would say that maybe for the first time in the last year, I am quite optimistic now that we see the fans return to our arenas.
“By the time we get to the playoffs in mid-May, things will even be considerably better than they are now.” – Reuters
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