WILL THE NBA SEASON RESUME IN JULY DESPITE CORONAVIRUS? DETAILS HERE.
NBA RELEASED A STATEMENT REGARDING THE ISSUE
The coronavirus pandemic has hit the world of sports very hard. Popular sporting events, including the Olympics, have been postponed due to it. And the NBA is no different. As the situation is not getting better for countries like the US, the fans are demanding to start the sporting events so that they can enjoy some entertainment when quarantined at home. It seems that the pleas of the fans have been heard as NBA season will likely resume in July with proper precautions in place.
Thanks to coronavirus pandemic, the NBA season won’t have any cross-country action as the teams can’t be allowed to travel up and down the US to play games. The rest of the season will likely take place in a common area. Earlier, the name of Las Vegas had popped up, but now it is likely that the matches will be held at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex that is located in Florida. It is reported that talks are held between the association and the Walt Disney Company.
If the NBA season resumes at the 250-acre complex, it will be a smart move commercially as ESPN, one of the key broadcasters of NBA, is owned by the Disney Company. The complex has seen some action in the past as it hosted Junior NBA World Championships last year.
The Board of Governors at NBA have officially approved the proposal that says 22 teams will return to the NBA season and the tentative date of return in 31st July 2020. A two-week training camp would likely be organized at the complex before the NBA season resumes. The players of all the 22 teams will need to stay, practice and play at the complex to mitigate the risk of Coronavirus spread among the players.
It is also likely that if the plan to resume NBA season is set into motion, the players won’t be allowed to leave the Disney World Resort until the season is over to ensure their health and well-being.
Here are all details about the resumption of NBA season via a press release and the list of teams that are likely to participate.
Teams you can expect to participate in the NBA return will include:
- Toronto Raptors
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Boston Celtics
- Miami Heat
- Philadephia 76ers
- Indiana Pacers
- Brooklyn Nets
- Orlando Magic
- Washington Wizards
- Los Angeles Lakers
- LA Clippers
- Utah Jazz
- Denver Nuggets
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Houston Rockets
- Dallas Mavericks
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Portland Trail Blazers
- New Orleans Pelicans
- San Antonio Spurs
- Sacramento Kings
- Phoenix Suns
The official NBA statement explains the format going forward resembles the following:
Each returning team would play eight seeding games, as selected from its remaining regular-season matchups. At the conclusion of the seeding games, the seven teams in each conference with the best combined records across regular-season games and seeding games would qualify for the playoffs.
If the team with the eighth-best combined record in its conference is more than four games ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined record in the same conference, then the team with the eighth-best record would earn the eighth playoff seed.
If the team with the eighth-best combined record in its conference (Team A) is four games or fewer ahead of the team with the ninth-best combined record in the same conference (Team B), then Teams A and B would compete in a play-in tournament to determine the eighth playoff seed. To earn the eighth playoff seed, Team A would need to defeat Team B once and Team B would need to defeat Team A two games in a row.
The 2019-20 season would conclude with a traditional playoff format with best-of-seven series in the first round, conference semifinals, conference finals, and the NBA Finals.
