The start of the 2020-21 NBA season is still up in the air. However, it's possible that the late start would result to the season coinciding with the Tokyo Olympics, which is scheduled to take place in July 2021.

Despite that possibility though, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver doesn't see the league suspending play to make way for next year's summer games, per Tim Bontempts of ESPN.

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“We'll consider it. I think it's unlikely, at the end of the day, that, if we start late, we would stop for the Olympics,” Adam Silver said in an interview with NBA TV inside the league's bubble at Walt Disney World Resort. “Because, as you know, it's not just a function of stopping for the period in which they are competing over in Tokyo. But they require training camp, and then they require rest afterwards.”

Commissioner Silver previously said that the earliest start to the 2020-21 season could be on Christmas Day this year. Nonetheless, he did add that the season is more likely to begin at some point in January 2021. Regardless of the start date, an overlap definitely looks inevitable, given that the normal NBA calendar takes around eight months.

By the time of the summer Olympics, it's likely that the NBA is in the heat of the 2021 NBA playoffs.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The games had originally been scheduled to happen in July this year.

Several high-profile players such as LeBron James and Stephen Curry have hinted that they intend to join Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics. Likewise, this doesn't only impact the Americans, but other international stars who intend to represent their respective nations. This will definitely be another testy situation for the NBA and Adam Silver.