NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports

NBA returning to October-June schedule for 2021-22 season

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 6/10/21

Like the bulk of the professional sports world, the NBA had both of its past seasons drastically altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. With coronavirus vaccines now available to all adults throughout the United States, the Association is hoping to get back to normal by next fall.

On Thursday, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweeted the NBA is reverting to its standard schedule that will see the 2021-22 regular season begin in October and the Finals end in June:

Sources: Key dates for the 2021-22 NBA season:

Sept. 28: Training camp starts
Oct. 19: Regular season starts
April 16: Playoffs start
June 2: Finals Game 1
June 19: Finals Game 7
June 23: 2022 NBA Draft
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 10, 2021

Back in April, reports surfaced the NHL is targeting Oct. 12 for the start of its next season. With the border that separates the United States and Canada still closed to non-essential travel minus an exemption approved for the final two rounds of the ongoing Stanley Cup Playoffs, it's unclear if the NHL would once again establish an all-Canadian division for regular-season play.

The NBA's Toronto Raptors called Tampa home for this past season, while MLB's Toronto Blue Jays are currently hosting opponents at Buffalo's Sahlen Field amid hopes they'll be cleared to return to Toronto later this summer.

As with most things these days, all plans for international travel had by leagues such as the NBA, NHL and MLB are subject to change based on COVID-19 variants and potential future virus waves.

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