NBA Commissioner considers delaying next season's opening

Five weeks after the NBA suspended games due to the coronavirus, NBA commissioner Adam Silver talked about delaying the start of the 2020-2021 season to find the time to finish the 2019-2020 season. After meeting with the NBA's Board of Governors last Friday, this is the most realistic approach the league announced so far.

Commissioner Silver made it clear that safety is the number one priority. While the safety of fans and players are in doubt, no games will be played, and no official decisions will be made until that time.

According to CBS Sports, the league is open to just about anything. NBA previously discussed the possibility of an isolated city for all teams to play empty arena games. In the past weekends, they even finished virtual competitions such as NBA 2K Live and a H.O.R.S.E. tournament.

If the season is officially cancelled, it will be the first time in the history of the NBA that no champion is crowned. Commissioner Silver seems adamant to ensure that this doesn't happen.

There's no concrete timeline at the moment, but the league is seriously considering shortened 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons to accommodate the necessary games to complete both. While the NBA had shortened seasons before due to a lockdown, it never happened back-to-back. Silver also talked about a tighter schedule to complete both seasons without cancelling any games to recoup financial losses.

Silver also said that the season will not resume until widespread testing nationwide is completed, including all members of the league itself. Last Friday, seven more NBA players tested positive for the virus, but the league did not release their identities.

While plans and options are on the table, none of them are concrete until coronavirus cases are dropping nationwide, and the NBA is coronavirus free. Only then will the league start figuring out a schedule for both seasons, including off-season events such as the NBA draft.

At this point, Silver is saying that they don't know when the league will resume games as they monitor the developing pandemic worldwide. He is only saying that they are considering all options while prioritising safety for all.