With the NBA recently announcing its decision to suspend the season due to the coronavirus pandemic, one of the biggest questions that have emerged — second only of course to the health and safety of everybody involved — is the expected timetable of said suspension.
While the NBA has yet to release an official statement on the same, ESPN senior writers Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps have provided us with some insight on the next steps that need to be taken in this respect. According to their report, the league will need at least two weeks in order to give the players the medical clearances required.
The regular-season stoppage will be at least two weeks so all players affected can go through quarantine and, one hopes, be cleared of the virus.
They did add a major caveat, though, saying that in truth, we are likely looking at a much longer hiatus.
In reality, it probably will be longer. By comparison, when the virus broke out in China, the Chinese Basketball Association suspended play in late January. The CBA is in the process of resuming play in early April, roughly a 10-week layoff.
If we were to pattern the NBA’s timetable to that of the CBA, then odds are, the season won’t resume until late in May. Should this be the case, the playoffs will also be rescheduled, and this will likely also have an effect on the start of the 2020-21 season.
To be clear, nothing is official of yet, and we are still awaiting word from the NBA’s front office, so we will be sure to pass along any new information as they come.
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