Once NBA season resumes, Finals to end on or before Oct. 12?
Last Friday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Ramona Shelburne and Zach Lowe reported that on Thursday, the NBA Board of Governors is expected to approve a proposal submitted by NBA commissioner Adam Silver to resume the 2019-20 season halted on March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It appears fans might get live basketball back on their televisions on the last day of July.
On Tuesday, Wojnarowski tweeted that the league wants clubs back on courts for meaningful action on July 31 and that the last game of the NBA Finals could be scheduled for Oct. 12.
Wojnarowski added details aren't yet set in stone ahead of Thursday's meeting:
With all signs pointing to the league using Orlando's Walt Disney World Resort as a temporary basketball hub so players can quarantine before and during the season's resumption, the Finals theoretically could begin on Sept. 29 or Sept. 30 and still finish on Oct. 12 while accounting for off days.
Much like the 24-team model the NHL intends to use to crown a 2020 Stanley Cup champion, the NBA inviting 22 clubs would include some sort of play-in tournament to award the last postseason berths ahead of a standard tournament.
The NBA could also schedule games or a round-robin competition to determine seeding among teams already holding playoff spots per Thursday's expected agreement.
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