A laterNBA seasonmaydisrupt Olympics
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. — NBACommissionerAdamSilversaidTuesdaythathis“guess” is thatnext season will not start until at least January, plus acknowledged that the later-than-usual schedule could mean top U.S. men’s players miss next summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
Silver, a guest in a series of panel discussions on CNN, did not indicate that any decisionsarefinalized. Theleague was originally hoping for a Dec. 1 start, then shifted its focus to the chance of a late
December start, and now the target has apparently moved again.
“I continue to believe that we’re going to be better off getting into January,” Silver said in a discussion with Bob Costasduringpartofthe“CitizenbyCNN” event. “Thegoal for us next season is to play a standardseason...an82-game season and playoffs. And further, thegoalwouldbetoplay gamesinhomearenasinfront of fans, but there’s still a lot that we need to learn.”
The NBA hasn’t played in arenas since March 11, when the league suspended its season because of the coronavirus pandemic. A very small number of fans — about 40 pergame—havebeenallowed to watch inside the bubble at WaltDisneyWorld, allofthem family members or friends, who all are tested daily, like everyone else in the bubble.
Atypical season has a regular season that lasts fornearly sixmonths, followedbyabout a two-month postseason. If next season is typical — and there’s no way of knowing that it will be, or even could be — a January start could mean a June or July regular-season finish, with playoffs concluding in August or September.
That could greatly affect Olympic plans.
The rescheduled Tokyo Olympics are set to begin July 23 and run throughAug. 8 — if those games are held. Final qualifying rounds for the 24 teams still bidding for the four remaining spots in the 12-teammen’s basketball field would begin in June.
“There are a lot of great U.S. players, andwe may be up against a scenariowhere the top 15NBAplayers aren’t competing in the Olympics, but other great American playersarecompeting,” Silver said. “And, obviously, there are many NBA players who participate in the Olympics for other countries. That’s something we’re going to have to work through.”
USA Basketball has been planning for scenarios in recent months but can’t makeanyconcreteplansuntil it sees what the next NBA scheduleofficially looks like. TheU.S. roster for the Tokyo Olympics will be 12 players; therewereanother34players competingforothercountries at the Rio Olympics as well.
Several NBA coaches are also planning to coach in the Tokyo Olympics or in qualifying: San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich will coachUSABasketball and be assisted by Golden State’s Steve Kerr and Atlanta’s Lloyd Pierce; Golden State associate head coach Mike Brown is set to coach Nigeria; Toronto assistantSergioScariolowillcoach SpainandRaptorsheadcoach Nick Nurse will lead Canada in qualifying and then the Olympics should it qualify.
“These are highly unique andunusual circumstances,” Silver said. “And I think just as it is for the Olympicmovement, it is for us aswell. And we’re just going to have to sort of find a way to meld andmeshthose two competing considerations.”