According to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, his “best guess” is that next season will kick off in 2021.
Commissioner Silver emphasized that “the goal is to play a standard season” next year.
Silver discussed the league’s plans in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.
Previously, the league announced a tentative target date for the 2020-2021 season as December 1.
However, Silver said last month that the date was “feeling a little too early for me.”
As recently as a week ago, Silver said hopefully “the earliest we would start is Christmas of this year.”
He retracted that saying that with the developing coronavirus related information becoming more available, the league would “be better off getting into January.”
Silver made sure to clarify that his idea of a “standard season” would be an 82 game regular season and full postseason, noting that “the goal would be to play games in home arenas in front of fans.”
“But there’s still a lot that we need to learn in terms of rapid testing, for example,” said Silver. “Would that be a means of getting fans into our buildings? Will there be other protections?”
Silver reiterated that the NBA is “clearly learning a lot from other sports,” citing the COVID-19 protocols currently being used in MLB, the NFL, and major college sports programs.
“There’s a lot of new information out there in the marketplace that we’re looking to absorb,” he said.
Of course, it is important for the league to get fans back in their home arenas, considering the amount of revenue fans provide for the league and its organizations.
Commissioner Silver and the NBA look forward to a successful conclusion of the 2020 NBA Playoffs while also planning ahead for next season.