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NBA RETURN

22 NBA TEAMS RETURN

By Vaughn JohnsonPublished 4 years ago 4 min read
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NBA Return July 30th

The NBA's board of governors intends to approve a league proposal on a 22-team format to restart the season in Orlando, Florida, sources told ESPN.

The conference call and vote is set for 12:30 p.m. ET Thursday, sources said.

Commissioner Adam Silver and the league's advisory/finance committee have shared the broad details of a plan with teams to play at the Walt Disney World Resort, sources said. The plan includes 13 Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams, eight regular-season games, a possible play-in tournament for the eighth seed, and playoffs, sources said.

As the NBA models a 22-team format for the season's proposed resumption beginning July 31 in Orlando, Florida, a timeline shared with teams as a last possible date for a Finals Game 7 lands on Oct. 12, sources told ESPN.

Commissioner Adam Silver and the league's advisory/finance committee have shared the broad details of a plan with teams to play at the Walt Disney World Resort, sources said. The plan includes 13 Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams, eight regular-season games, a possible play-in tournament for the eighth seed, and playoffs, sources said.

Commissioner Adam Sliver

As the NBA models a 22-team format for the season's proposed resumption beginning July 31 in Orlando, Florida, a timeline shared with teams as a last possible date for a Finals Game 7 lands on Oct. 12, sources told ESPN.

Commissioner Adam Silver is expected to have a proposal to take to a vote of the NBA's board of governors on Thursday, sources said.

NBA DRAFT

The expectation is that the NBA draft and the opening of free agency would follow in sequential order in October, sources said.

The NBA and National Basketball Players Association are still discussing details on a format, and there is room for the league to maneuver on the structure of return-to-play ideas. The board of governors requires a three-fourths passage of the 30 teams on a plan, but there is an expectation among owners that they will fall into line and overwhelmingly approve the commissioner's recommendation, sources said.

The league has been advancing on a plan that would include regular-season, play-in and playoff games for the 16 teams currently holding a playoff position and six more teams within six games of the eighth seed in each conference, sources said.

Those six teams are New Orleans, Portland, San Antonio, Sacramento and Phoenix in the Western Conference and Washington in the East.

The NBA's Board of Governors is expected to approve a league proposal that would restart the season in Orlando utilizing a 22-team format, according to ESPN and The Athletic.

Three-fourths of the 30 NBA teams must also ratify the proposal. That decision is set to be made Thursday at 12:30 p.m., ESPN reported.

The new plan would see 13 Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams play eight regular-season games, before beginning the playoffs -- which, in past seasons, has ended in early June.

The top eight teams in both conferences will be a part of the 22 teams playing. The remaining six teams will be those within six games of eighth place: New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trailblazers, San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards, according to ESPN sources.

The restart would begin July 31, ESPN reported. And if there's an NBA Finals Game 7, it would be scheduled for October 12.

When asked about the reports, the NBA did not have a comment.

The NBA suspended its season after a member of the Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus on March 11. The coronavirus pandemic forced many US sports organizations to consider adjustments, including canceling events and holding games without fans.

Under this new plan, teams would be moving to train in Orlando by the end of July, ESPN reported. Players will be tested for coronavirus every day, and if someone tests positive they will be removed and treated individually, ESPN reported.

All this comes amidst reports that the season could resume at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida, as a single campus for games, practices and housing, according to NBA spokesman Mike Bass.

Some families, particularly for teams expecting to make deep runs into the playoffs, may also be allowed in the "bubble," as the arrangement has been called.

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