The NBA will have the season’s resumption and closing dates voted on Thursday. The organization wants the title of champion to be awarded by October 12 at the latest.
According to ESPN, the NBA wants to set its potential epilogue to October 12. That date would be the 7th possible game of the NBA Finals, the sports channel said, citing unnamed sources within the league.
Last Friday, Commissioner Adam Silver told club bosses that he was aiming for the July 31 date to resume the championship in the Orlando bubble on a forced break since March 11 and the positive coronavirus test of Frenchman Rudy Gobert (Utah).
And he submitted a preferential plan involving 22 teams, the format of which consists of playing a few remaining regular season games, and then organizing play-offs with teams six wins or less from 8th place in each conference. Which, in terms of the latest ranking, are New Orleans, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio in the West, and Washington in the East.
Towards the end of the season for teams not affected by the playoffs
The NBA, which also talks closely with the players’ union (NBPA), needs a three-quarters majority of owners to approve a return-to-play plan. According to ESPN, a very large majority of them plan to vote for it. This scenario would not include teams that have no chance of making the play-offs and are eight.
While some clubs like the Golden State Warriors seem to be content, arguing that they have no sporting interest in playing a few end-of-season games, others like the Atlanta Hawks refuse to be sidelined.
“I coach the youngest team in the NBA. And the best thing we can benefit from is playing basketball again. If the season resumes and we don’t participate, it will hurt our progress, our production, our ability to continue our momentum for next season,” coach Lloyd Pierce told ESPN. The penultimate of the Eastern Conference, the Hawks still had 15 games to play before the pandemic.
