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The NBA is targeting a July 31 return date.
However, there’s still so much unknown regarding that date, one that coincidentally falls at the same time the NCAA’s recruiting dead period is set to end.
There are several questions that immediately arise when thinking of the NBA returning to action for the first time in several months.
The first is where will they play? Is the idea of playing in Disney feasible? If so, is that going to be the move and how can you do that safely?
The second is what will they do to continue the season? With teams having around 17 games left in the season and time running short, do they just move straight to a play-in type playoff system.
That said, the report of the specific was first brought to the media by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the league office informed Board of Governors that July 31 is a target date for return of season, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 29, 2020
Charania did follow up with a tweet that mentioned a potential answer to the second question listed above.
Sources: The NBA discussed four competition scenarios for restart with Board of Governors today:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 29, 2020
- 16 teams: Directly to playoffs
- 20: Group/stage play
- 22: Games to determine seeding, play-in tournament for final seed(s)
- 30: 72-game regular season, with play-in tourney
Many former Kentucky Wildcats will be impacted by the NBA’s return and what they plan to do upon return.
Players like De’Aaron Fox could be fighting for his team’s chance at just getting to the playoffs, while Anthony Davis will just want the quickest way for his Lakers to get to the NBA Finals, a platform the superstar has never been on.
Either way, the resuming of the NBA season will likely champion other sports into resuming play as well.