NBA boss Adam Silver told franchise owners on Friday that he was aiming for a season resumption on July 31, according to several media outlets that also relayed a poll in which general managers plead to play again in the play-offs.
American basketball could restart on July 31. This date is the goal communicated by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to the Board of Directors of franchise owners. The information was reported on Friday evening by a journalist from The Athletic, citing anonymous league sources. This seems to confirm the first echoes of the press, evoking the window of late July.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the league office informed Board of Governors that July 31 is a target date for return of season, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 29, 2020
No decision was made at that meeting. But, according to Espn, “Most” clubs expect the NBA to formally announce the season’s resumption plan suspended since March 11. The competition is expected to resume behind closed doors at Disney World’s unique florida venue.
Managers want the playoffs directly
In addition, The Athletic And Espn also revealed the results of an NBA survey of general managers of the 30 franchises. It appears that a small majority (53%, 16 out of 30) of them would like the championship to resume as soon as the playoffs, with sixteen qualifiers determined by the ranking on the evening of March 11.
Hornets owner Michael Jordan advocated on the call for player safety, and not simply having players return for meaningless games, sources said. Given the NBA is prioritizing health and safety first and foremost, 30 team return is unlikely. https://t.co/03pAvpDPi7
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 29, 2020
This proposal won more votes than the other three combined. The first was to finish the regular season and organize a qualifying round for the playoffs (27%). The second to resume directly through the playoffs, with a qualifying round or group stage modelled on a football World Cup (17%). For the last one, it was about finishing the regular season and advancing directly to the playoffs (3%).
While general managers prefer to keep the traditional playoff format, 47% (14 out of 30) say they are in favour of determining the order of the top seeds regardless of the conferences, according to the general ranking of 1 to 16. So far, eight top seeds have been selected in each conference according to the ranking from first to eighth place.
