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When basically every major sport in North America essentially stopped being a thing back in the middle of March, the first question that was on basically everyone’s mind was, “Well, when are they going to be a thing again?”
Sadly, much like the mysteries of how magnets work and the science behind why the tides go in and out, there was no possible way of knowing, as the situation was shrouded in uncertainty and anyone—including Mark Cuban—who claimed they had any idea of what the timeline looked like was pulling an Ace Ventura and talking out of their ass.
However, with restrictions across the country gradually being eased and the world slowly returning to whatever we’re going to define as “normal” when everything is said and done, leagues are slowly rolling out plans as they prepare to pick things up where they left off while taking some interesting steps to promote the safety of everyone involved.
The NBA (like other organizations) has explored the possibility of playing out the remainder of the schedule in a central location, and based on the most recent rumors, it appears the most likely scenario will involve teams congregating in Orlando to compete against each other at Disney World.
Shortly before that news surfaced, Spencer Dinwiddie said we’d be treated to the NBA action we’ve been craving for so long on July 15th, but as of right now, it looks like we’re going to have to wait until July 31st based on a proposal that the NBA’s board of governors is set to vote on when Thursday rolls around.
Under the plan, only 22 of the league’s 30 teams would be invited to Florida, where they will play a short slate of regular season games until heading into the playoffs, which (unlike the NHL) will feature the same seven-game format we all know and love. However, this also presents a little bit of an issue, as Game 7 of the NBA Finals is tentatively scheduled for October 12—a date that falls just 10 days earlier than when this year’s season began.
As of right now, it looks like NBA fans are going to get what they asked for—a season played in its entirety—but at what cost? Sure, you managed to finish this one but only created more logistical problems concerning what’s going to happen once it’s complete in the process. If the league could come up with a plan to address this current situation, I assume it’ll have one to address the one it’ll be confronted with in the fall, but it’ll be very interesting to see how far this ripple effect spreads.
[ESPN]