Report: NBA skeptical of pushing back 2020-21 season due to Olympics

The NBA reportedly is hesitant to push back the start of the 2020-21 season any further due to potential overlap with the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, ESPN's Zach Lowe reports.

Opening night for next season is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 1, 2020 and if it were to last 177 days, then the playoffs would conflict with the beginning of the 2021 Olympics, which is set to start July 23.

To avoid overlap, Atlanta Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk said the NBA has told GM's that next season could be condensed to stay as close to the normal schedule length as possible.

The league currently is set to resume the 2019-20 campaign at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World next month, but now players are considering not returning to play thanks in part to concerns raised by Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving.

Players have begun training, in a limited capacity, at their team facilities over the past week, and will continue to do so until they have to travel to Orlando for the remainder of the season.