A decision on when the NBA season will begin is coming soon.
After lengthy discussions, the league and its union have been rumored to be in disagreement over when the 2020-21 schedule should start.
But according to a Tuesday report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the National Basketball Players’ Association anticipates on holding a vote between two options either Thursday night or Friday morning.
Here are the details for each scenario:
Dec. 22 Start
This option is favored by the league, as the NBA fears losses could reach as high as $1 billion should the season start any later. Additionally, a pre-Christmas start would recuperate additional revenue with a slate of holiday games, and the season would finish up before the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which players can participate in. Not to mention, the NBA would be competing for ratings, but time is running out for this plan.. This option reportedly entails:
— Three-week training camp commencing Dec. 1
— Three or four preseason games
— A 72-game regular season
— 14 back-to-back games per team
— 25% reduction in travel
— A six-day All-Star Break at the beginning of March
— The regular season wrapping up around May 16
— A play-in tournament for the Now. 7-10 seeds in both the Eastern and Western Conferences
— Playoffs begin around May 22
— NBA Finals completed around July 22
Jan. 18 Start
NBA players, especially those who made a deep run in the Orlando, Fla. Bubble, prefer this start scenario with games starting up on Martin Luther King Day. With the 2020 NBA Finals having just concluded in early October, players feel that a December start is too quick of a turnaround. There are rumors that some veterans may even skip the beginning of the season if that were the case. A January option reportedly entails:
— Three-week training camp commencing Dec. 28
— Three or four preseason games
— A 60-game regular season
— 24 back-to-back games per team
— 25% reduction in travel
— A six-day All-Star Break beginning around April 9
— The regular season wrapping up in June
— A play-in tournament for the Now. 7-10 seeds in both the Eastern and Western Conferences
— Playoffs begin around June 28
— NBA Finals completed around Aug. 21-23
We’ll see what they decide.
