Report: NBA wary of pushing next season back due to 2021 Olympics
Due to the potential overlap with the already-delayed Tokyo Olympics, the NBA is hesitant to push back the start of the 2020-21 season in the event of a coronavirus outbreak in Orlando, ESPN's Zach Lowe reports.
Currently, opening night for the league's 2020-21 campaign is scheduled for Dec. 1, 2020. If the new season were to last 177 days - the same length of the 2019-20 schedule - the playoffs would conflict with the beginning of the Tokyo Games, ESPN's Tim Bontemps noted earlier this week.
To avoid that overlap, Atlanta Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk said the league has told GMs next season's slate could be condensed to stay as close to the usual schedule length as possible.
The Tokyo Olympics are currently scheduled to begin on July 23, 2021.