Given the unpredictability of the coronavirus, it’s anyone’s guess as to when it might be safe to resume sports.
Of course, sports very much are on the backburner amid a global pandemic, but it is fair to wonder when life will return to normal — because as we know, life returning to normal likely would run concurrent with sports resuming.
Like any other league, the NBA has been keeping its options open for what to do in order to finish out the 2019-20 season. Las Vegas has been floated as a possible location to play the NBA playoffs in isolation, with the league reportedly hoping to have a champion crowned by Labor Day.
With that in mind, ESPN analyst Bobby Marks, a former NBA executive, tweeted out Friday what he thinks “might be the best case scenario” for not only finishing the current season, but also getting the 2020-21 campaign going.
This might be the best case scenario:
Early July- start of the NBA playoffs
Mid-August- NBA Finals
End of August- Draft
Sept. 1- Start of FA
Sept. 10- Summer/fall league
Dec. 10- training camp opens
Dec. 25- regular season opens (82G)
Mid-June- regular season ends
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) April 10, 2020
This does raise an oft-asked question: “At what point should future seasons be compromised for the purposes of shoehorning in the rest of the current one?” Getting the regular season finished in mid-June of 2021 obviously would result in playoffs again running until about mid- to late-August.
But given the circumstances, nothing is going to be ideal. So keeping that in mind, Marks’ suggestion is far from a bad one.
