NBA Players Union Approves Plan To Tip Off 2020-21 Season Before Christmas

Enlarge this image

Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis vies for a rebound with Miami Heat forward Jae Crowder during Game 5 of the NBA Finals Friday last month in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Mark J. Terrill/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Mark J. Terrill/AP

The Coronavirus Crisis
Lakers Win NBA Finals; No Coronavirus Cases Reported In Bubble

The later start would have allow players more time to rest between seasons.

The final game of the last season ended in mid-October, when the Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. Those games happened inside a so-called «bubble at Walt Disney World in Florida, because of coronavirus concerns.

But as The Athletic’s David Aldridge tweeted, the potential financial losses by starting the season next year proved to be too costly.

«Hearing from multiple prominent player agents that have communicated w/ their clients that the union is highly likely to accept the NBA’s proposal for a 72-game 2020-21 season beginning Dec. 22, Aldridge added. «‘We have to,’ one agent said. The projected losses of waiting later are too great.

Hearing from multiple prominent player agents that have communicated w/their clients that the union is highly likely to accept the NBA’s proposal for a 72-game 2020-21 season beginning Dec. 22. "We have to," one agent said. The projected losses of waiting later are too great.

— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) November 4, 2020