It looks like next season could start in 2020 after all.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the NBA is targeting Dec. 22 for the start of the 2020-21 season.
Charania added that the NBA would like to play a 72-game season rather than a usual 82-game season, allowing for a return closer to the normal schedule and a potential finish before the 2021 Summer Olympics, among other things.
The National Basketball Players Association would need to agree to any plan to start the season that early, per Charania.
The NBA is targeting Dec. 22 for the start of the 2020-21 season and a 72-game campaign that finishes before the ‘21 Olympics, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 23, 2020
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Brian Windhorst, Zach Lowe, Tim MacMahon and Bobby Marks reported earlier in the day that the NBA's board of governors was going to discuss plans for the upcoming season on Friday, part of the focus being on starting the upcoming season as soon as possible, playing fewer than 82 games and not waiting for fans to be permitted to all of the league's arenas.
According to that report, there are some teams around the league that are pushing for a start around Martin Luther King Day, which is on the third Monday of January, instead of around Christmas.
