Ten weeks of uncertainty clouded a lot of basketball fans after the NBA suspended its regular season indefinitely last March due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Many of us have been wondering about the fate of the league, especially since a handful of other sports leagues laid out their scheduled returns shortly after the country went on lockdown. Lost in the mix, the NBA has kept mum about its plans ever since.
But after a long time of speculation, we just might have a sliver of hope. The NBA 2019-2020 return is starting to take form.
NBA spokesperson Mike Bass reportedly said that they have been in talks with the Walt Disney Company about a possible return sometime in July. The league plans to continue its halted season at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida where the games, practices and housing for the players could potentially take place.
There is also a high possibility that instead of picking up where it left off, the NBA will simply opt for a 16-team playoff as doing the former would take a longer period to finish, which is a huge reach in the time of a pandemic. We might potentially be looking at the NBA 2019-2020 season return heading straight to a 16-seed playoffs and laying off the split conferences.
This is the better route to take IMO. Like what other leagues have done - reducing the series and tight-packing the matches - a playoff is more time-efficient and easier to pull off without taking away the essence and excitement of the play. But, of course, the decision is still in the hands of the NBA and a plan remains a plan until clear directives have been announced.
With teams gradually returning to their regular training schedules and ‘new normal’ practices and players starting to get back in shape - all with respect to quarantine protocols - The NBA 2019-2020 return is definitely in the works and quite ready to come back to the court soon.
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