The NBA Is Coming Back
By Hope Bidegainberry on July 6, 2020
It’s official: The NBA is coming back. Over the weekend, the league unveiled the schedule for the teams participating in the conclusion of the 2019-2020 season.
22 teams will play in a closed-off “bubble” in Orlando, Florida. They are the 16 teams who were in position for playoff spots when the season was suspended, plus six other teams who were within six games of making the cut.
The eight others are done for the season: The Timberwolves, the Warriors, the Hornets, the Bulls, the Knicks, the Pistons, the Hawks, and the Cavaliers.
Games resume on July 30th, with each team playing eight more “seeding” regular season games. The schedule is up on ESPN.com.
The first round of the playoffs is set to begin on August 17th, with the Finals penciled in for September 30th. The season will end by October 13th, the draft will be on October 16th, and the 2020-2021 season would begin on December 1st.
There are still plenty of questions, like: How many extra roster spots will each team get, and would a player be replaced if he tests positive for COVID-19?
Not to mention what would happen if there was an outbreak among one of the teams, or the league itself.
There’s still some doubt that they’ll be able to pull this off. More than a dozen players have already tested positive . . . and Florida, where the NBA will host their “bubble,” has emerged as a major COVID-19 hotspot over the past week.
