2020 – 2021 NBA Season Start

Michael Pagliuso

The 2020 NBA season was drastically delayed due to Covid-19 and was finished mid October.  This is usually when the preseason begins, but players need time to rest and visit their families as they have been away for months.  NBA officials are considering starting the new season on December 22nd to give players a small rest and allow time for the NBA draft and offseason trades.

For certain NBA teams, the early NBA season start can be frustrating.  For example, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers; 2020 NBA champion, is reaching an age in his career where more rest is required to stay healthy and perform at high levels.  He thinks the season should start next year after Christmas to allow players more rest and recovery time.  James stated that he most likely would not play at the beginning of the season if it started in December according to a Tweet.  Lakers’ guard Danny Green says: “If we start in December, I think most guys [are like] ‘I’m not going to be there… to have that quick of a restart, I wouldn’t expect [LeBron] to be there for the 1st month of the season.”

Other teams however, such as the Golden State Warriors, want the season to start as soon as possible, because they were not invited to the NBA bubble due to their bad record.  They haven’t played a real NBA game since March, and even then they didn’t have their best players available to play because of injuries.  The Brooklyn Nets have two All Stars in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving who were both injured at the NBA cancellation back in March.  This delay of season actually benefits their team and is allowing them both to regain strength and take their time on their recoveries. 

To conclude on these topics, I think it’s fair to say that all fans want the season back as soon as it can, but I think it would be healthy for the league and many players to delay the start date of the 2021 season until next year, and play a shortened season.