NBA planning to restart season one day earlier, report says

According to an ESPN report, the NBA will move up the restart of the season from the planned July 31 date by one day.

While league sources indicated that it was not official yet, the expectation is that the move would be made to accommodate television as the league returns to action. The NBA suspended the season after the games of March 11 and have been negotiating a way back between team owners and players.

Both the NBA’s Board of Governors and the National Basketball Players Association have approved the plan put forth by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, but the plan is continuously adapting to the data as COVID-19 is believed to have a second wave coming. Florida, where the league is planning a single-site resumption of the season, has seen a rise again.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that there were a record 1,698 new cases Wednesday and eight of the last nine days have included at least 1,000 new cases.

While the NBPA did approve the plan, they are still working out a way to protect the players on the 22 teams who will be put in the bubble-like setting at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney World. 

ESPN reported Wednesday that the NBA and NBPA are working on terms that would allow a player to opt out of playing without facing consequences, but would not be paid for the games missed.

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.