The potential start of the 2020-21 NBA season on Dec. 22 is something that Los Angeles Lakers veteran Danny Green believes will cause players like LeBron James to sit out the first month of action.
Green appeared on The Ringer NBA Show podcast and offered his opinion about the possible quick start.
Lakers guard Danny Green on the proposed Dec. 22 start to next season:
"If we start in December, I think most guys [are like] 'I'm not going to be there… to have that quick of a restart, I wouldn't expect [LeBron] to be there for the 1st month of the season." pic.twitter.com/NYqNxzNEmZ
— Logan Murdock (@loganmmurdock) October 26, 2020
After the 2019-20 campaign’s unprecedented suspension, the NBA’s resumption of play caused the NBA season to end earlier this month. That’s usually when teams are already in training camp, which meant that a late start to the season was obvious.
Originally, the likely starting date for next season was expected to not be until January at the earliest, but another report indicates that the season could get underway on Christmas Day.
Prior to this year, the NBA season had never gone beyond June. That allowed for a few months of rest for players whose teams went deep into the postseason.
However, the tight time frame for next season to get underway is resulting in the push to get things going as quickly as possible.
One of the reasons that James might ponder the strategy of “load management” is that he’ll turn 36 on Dec. 30 and may be concerned about the grind of playing with little rest over the course of an entire year.
There’s no indication that James, the Lakers or any other player is considering such an approach. In the case of James, he’s already been seen preparing for next season and other than injuries, he’s rarely missed games while fully healthy.
Add to the fact that James is undoubtedly eager to defend his latest NBA title, and Green’s scenario becomes less likely.
Of course, until a final starting date for the season is announced, such speculation is likely to continue flourishing.
