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The NBA had a Board of Governors meeting last Friday and reports surfaced that the League was considering starting the 2020-21 season in late December, before Christmas. The season ended just a few weeks ago in the middle of October and that would leave very little time for an offseason. Los Angeles Lakers SG Danny Green went on The Ringer’s NBA Show Real One’s with Logan Murdock. Green, and apparently some his teammates, aren’t crazy about the season starting so early. Here’s the full clip:
The NBA is looking to get things started up again on December 22, but @DGreen_14 and the other Lakers aren’t too keen on it
— #RingerNBA (@ringernba) October 26, 2020
Full #RealOnes with @loganmmurdock and Raja Bell: https://t.co/yYIdpuK49o pic.twitter.com/NHwFIVG00D
The season starting at the end of December certainly doesn’t give the Lakers much time to prepare for the season. It also isn’t exactly fair to most of the teams who competed in the bubble and postseason. Teams who weren’t invited to the season restart have had essentially the length of an entire season off to rest. Most haven’t played since March and the season starting in December would give them about 9 months off. The NBA’s push to start the season before Christmas is mostly driven by revenue and TV rights. It isn’t taking into consideration the player’s needs to recuperate after the longest season in NBA history.
One reason why this date hasn’t been set in stone is because the NBPA needs to write off on it. If more players feel the same way as Green and the Lakers, we could see some pushback. Commissioner Adam Silver had stated during the playoffs that a start to 2020-21 could be pushed to late January. That would make more sense for the players and offseason. It would make less sense for getting the League calendar back on track. It also impacts the 2021 Summer Olympics and NBA player’s potential participation.