The NBA’s proposed starting date for the 2020-21 season of Dec. 22 is reportedly being met with opposition from a number of key players, including Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James.
Shams Charania of The Athletic appeared on NBA TV and indicated that the quick turnaround from one season to another is a cause for concern with some of the league’s most prominent players.
Senior NBA Insider for @TheAthletic and @Stadium @ShamsCharania discusses the likelihood of a December 22 start date for next season. pic.twitter.com/rF8G4HqeTB
— NBA TV (@NBATV) October 28, 2020
“There are several star players around the league, including LeBron James, that are not for a start that quick on Dec. 22 and believe that it is too soon, I’m told,” said Charania.
The 2019-20 season ended on Oct. 11, and the proposed starting date for next season would come just 72 days later, a severe contrast from past seasons.
Ordinarily, the span between the final game of one season and the first regular-season contest for the next is roughly four months.
However, the NBA is seeking to get the league schedule back on track for what would be a June 2021 finish because of the rescheduled Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The scheduled dates for the Olympics are from July 23 to Aug. 8.
Charania noted that the scheduling is just one of the issues that players and owners will have to resolve, with other factors including the league’s salary cap.
James turns 36 in December and while he remains in top shape, his ability to enjoy any sort of offseason would be severely impacted with such a quick start.
Late starts have taken place before in the NBA, with labor issues after the 1998 season pushing the start of the next season to January 1999. Meanwhile, the NBA lockout in 2011 resulted in a Christmas Day start for the league.
The unprecedented circumstances surrounding the NBA’s shutdown in March remain an issue, which complicates the situation even further. While all of the concerns will eventually be ironed out, the debate over when to start is apparently already proving to be a contentious issue.
