By Isaiah Shim
Sports Editor
Although the Los Angeles Lakers were crowned champions only a month ago, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has already announced when the next season will begin.
On November 9, the NBA and the NBA Players Association (NBAPA) came to an agreement about some of the rules of the 2020-2021 season. The 2020-2021 NBA season will start on December 22. All teams will play 72 regular season games, 10 games less than a normal season.
Normally, teams will have around 4-5 in between seasons, so the turnaround will be the shortest it has ever been for teams. Not only will the veteran players have a short amount of rest time, the incoming rookies will be in the same boat because the NBA draft will be held on November 18.
One thing to consider is that the Lakers and the Heat, the two teams who competed in the Finals, will only have 71 days of rest before the next season starts. Teams who didn’t even make the bubble will have 285 days of rest.
Free agency will also be affected as this period will be significantly shorter, getting cut from a week to less than 48 hours, starting 6 pm EST November 20 to 12:01 pm EST November 22.
The NBA and NBPA are still in active discussions regarding other rules, basketball-related income, and the salary cap.
