The 2019-20 NBA season is officially set to resume.
On Thursday, the NBA’s Board of Governors voted to approve the league’s proposed 22-team format for the resumption of the season. Only one owner voted down the proposal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Source: 29-1 vote https://t.co/NT87g6EENp
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 4, 2020
The approval paves the way for the season to resume, which is expected to happen on July 31. Games will all be held at Disney World in Orlando, Fla. Shams Charania of The Athletic adds that there will be a training camp period beginning on June 30.
Sources: The NBA informed the Board of Governors of scheduled dates:
– Training camp: June 30, July 7 travel to Orlando
– 2019-20 season: July 31
– Free agency: Oct. 18
– 2020-21 targets: Nov. 10 training camp, Dec. 1 opening night (can remain fluid)— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 4, 2020
By allowing 22 teams to take part in the remainder of the season, the goal is to give those that are currently just outside the playoff picture a chance to earn a spot without involving teams that would essentially have nothing to play for. There will be eight more regular season games and a play-in tournament for the eighth seed in each conference if the ninth seed finishes the regular season within four games of No. 8 in the standings. You can read the full details of the format and potential play-in tournaments here.
Some small-market teams are reportedly concerned about the financial impact of being excluded from the resumption of the season, but prominent members of the NBA community (like Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan) wanted the league to avoid having players take part in meaningless games.
The 22-team format should be extremely entertaining for fans. Teams are already trying to come up with ways to give themselves an advantage in Orlando.
