Bucks co-owner says NBA could return “within the next 6-to-8 weeks”

Momentum continues to surge for the NBA resuming its 2019-20 season in the coming months.

On Wednesday, Shams Charania reported that Orlando’s Walt Disney World has emerged as the clear frontrunner to host NBA games. Las Vegas has also been mentioned as a potential destination, and Sports illustrated reports the league has already rented out several facilities in Las Vegas.

Now, Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry has told CNBC that, “within the next 6-to-8 weeks, we should be playing.” He added that the league would likely have two sites it would be playing and speculated that the Western Conference teams would play in Las Vegas, while Eastern Conference teams would play in Orlando.

In addition, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported today that the league office is expected to issue official guidelines outlining a return to play around June 1st.

The NBA originally suspended the 2019-20 season on March 11th because of the COVID-19 outbreak, and it looked all but certain that the season would ultimately be cancelled.

Now, it’s looking more and more likely that the NBA season will eventually resume, though it will likely be a shortened one. Sports illustrated reports that it could be reduced from 82 regular-season games to just 70.

It’s likely to be at least that number because the NBA needs 70 regular-season games in order to retain 100% of the revenue the league receives from their regional sports network partners that air games in local markets.

There’s still a lot to figure out, and there’s still a chance that more COVID-19 outbreaks could occur and force the league to suspended the season again. But for now, there’s realistic hope for the league resuming its season and ultimately crowning a champion, something we sadly did not get to see on the college hoops side.

Fingers crossed!