It might be a few months late, but the NBA finally appears to have plans in place to play out its 2020 postseason.
The NBA Players Union held a call Monday in which several dates were revealed for the league’s return-to-play-plan, according to Stadium’s Shams Charania. And it appears we won’t be without basketball too much longer.
The play-in tournament reportedly will be held Aug. 16 and 17, per Charania. The first round of the playoffs is expected to begin Aug. 18.
The second round of the playoffs is scheduled to begin Sept. 1, with the Conference Finals expected to begin Sept. 15. Game 1 of the NBA Finals is scheduled to begin Sept. 30 and go no later than Oct. 12.
Our NBA Insider @ShamsCharania reports on the tentative NBA postseason schedule for the 2019-20 resumption, including:
Conference Finals: Sept. 15
Finals Game 1: Sept. 30. pic.twitter.com/v9ceyJGXKA— Stadium (@Stadium) June 8, 2020
Given the presumed Aug. 16 official resumption date, players likely will partake in some form of training camp in mid-July. Many teams, however, already are allowing players to utilize their facilities on a limited basis, though they’re required to follow several precautions due to COVID-19, which shut down sports leagues across the United States nearly three months ago.
It still might be two months away, but fans will be pleased to see players take the court again, whenever that might be.