The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) voted on Thursday, November 5th on a 72-game schedule that will start on December 22nd. The representatives of the NBPA met on a conference call with Michele Roberts, the executive director of the NBPA.
The NBA Draft will be held on November 18th, free agency will begin on November 22nd, and training camp will begin on December 1st, all leading up to the December 22nd start of season.
The early season start will definitely benefit some teams much more than others. It puts the Lakers at a great disadvantage, since they just won the title and now have one month to recover and rest up. Meanwhile, teams that didn’t make the bubble or departed early have had time to rest, recover, and heal. Take the Golden State Warriors, for example.
The Warriors knew this would be a tank year, with Klay Thompson out with injury, and Steph breaking his hand in a game against the Suns. They never made it to the bubble, so they’ve had all of this off time followed by the #2 pick in the draft. They’re by far in the best position of all NBA teams.
We’ll have to wait and see how the December 22nd start affects the rest of the NBA teams, but we do know that the NBA wants the next season to start as soon as possible so that they can make up for lost revenue.
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