NBA Season To Officially Start Right Before Christmas

The NBA season will begin on December 22, right before Christmas.

The NBPA voted Thursday night to tentatively approve the league’s plan to play a 72-game schedule next season, with the 2020-21 campaign beginning on Dec. 22, which will provide little time for a free agency period before the start of training camps on Dec. 1.

The National Basketball Players Association has voted to tentatively approve NBA’s proposal for the 2020-21 campaign starting on Dec. 22 and playing 72-game season, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.

NBA set to tip off Christmas week.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 6, 2020

A Quick NBA Season Turn Around

The time between the end of the NBA Finals and the start of the new season will only be 51 days. The timetable going forward will be quick. The NBA Draft will be on November 18, with the free agency period starting right afterward.

One of the main reasons the season is starting sooner than later is because of lost revenue. Due primarily to the coronavirus pandemic, which shut the league down in mid-March, the NBA made $1.5 billion less than it projected last season.

ESPN is reporting that the 72-game schedule enabling the season to start in late December and finish before the Summer Olympics (which are scheduled from July 23 to Aug. 8), is “worth between $500 million and $1 billion in short- and long-term revenues to the league and the players.”

With the quick turnaround, expect veteran players like Finals MVP LeBron James to heavily invest in load time management. Just this past week on HBO’s the shop, James and President Barack Obama joked about letting Anthony Davis do most of the heavy lifting in the early part of the season.

Obama: "Let Anthony Davis do all the work, man." – LeBron: "That's what I got him for." pic.twitter.com/v5lMAjgclQ

— Main Team (@MainTeamSports) October 31, 2020