The National Basketball Players Association voted Thursday to support the notion of starting this coming season on Dec. 22, the date that the league has been targeting in its talks about how and when to get teams back on the floor for a planned 72-game season. The NBA draft is scheduled for Nov. 18 and the plan presented to players — and now approved by the team reps — calls for training camps to begin on Dec. 1. The NBA wanted the Dec. 22 start date over a mid-January notion for many reasons, revenue being foremost among them. The Dec. 22 start also means that the NBA's traditional Christmas schedule of games will be possible, something the league and its broadcast partners wanted. The season is also expected to conclude before the start of next summer's Tokyo Olympics, meaning NBA player participation in those games remains possible.

Source: Fox News November 06, 2020 04:41 UTC