ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski says one NBA team president is starting to get intrigued by the possible Christmas to August calendar.
Atlanta Hawks CEO Steve Koonin recently proposed starting and ending the NBA season later in order to avoid football.
Due to the NBA suspending the 2019-20 season because of COVID-19, the league may be forced to adopt to that new calendar style sooner than expected.
As transcribed by Real GM:
“I even had one team president, who I respect, who I think has some level of influence in the league, said to me the other day that he never really liked that Koonin idea, but the more he thinks about it now, the more it does intrigue him,” Wojnarowski said on his podcast.
“That will be interesting. It may come out of necessity that next season starts in December and ends deeper into the summer. It would be a fundamental change to the calendar. Summer League, the draft, free agency…they’re all moved back.”
ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks outlined what the new NBA calendar could look like if the league decides to start the 2020-21 season on Christmas:
Interesting when you lay it out:
Mid-June- start of the NBA playoffs
Early August- NBA Finals
End of August- Draft
Sept. 1- Start of FA
Sept. 10- Summer/fall league
Dec. 10- training camp opens
Dec. 25- regular season opens (82 games)
Mid-June- NBA season ends
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) March 16, 2020
The 2011-12 season started on Christmas because of the lockout.
NBA ratings were down this 2019-20. Koonin believes this new calendar style could possibly help with the ratings dip.
It’s unclear if the 2019-20 season will resume. Now that more and more players in the league are testing positive for the virus, fans may not see basketball played for a while unfortunately.
Follow Us
Subscribe