National Basketball Association officials are becoming less optimistic they will be able start a new season by Dec. 22, which would cost it between $500 million and $1 billion, ESPN reported citing unidentified sources.
The players' union has so far refused to agree to the pre-Christmas start, which would mean a new season would begin only 72 days after the previous one ended, preferring a mid-January tip off, ESPN quoted National Basketball Players Association Executive Director Michele Roberts.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told team general managers on conference call Monday that "time is running out" on starting the new season by Dec. 22. The league has pushed back a deadline until Friday that keeps open the possibility that it could terminate the collective bargaining agreement with the players union.
The CBA is the contract that governs major issues between the league and the players. Without it, the league could lock the players out or the players' union could strike. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus triggered a clause the in the CBA that gives both sides the option of terminating the contract with 45 days of notice, ESPN said citing unidentified sources.
The league has suggested a 72-game season to replace the normal 82-game schedule that has been used since 1967 and typically begins in mid-October.
This past season was suspended March 11 due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. It resumed July 30 and finished with the Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Miami Heat in the playoff championship series Oct. 11.
When the NBA returned from its hiatus during the summer, it reconvened in isolation at Walt Disney World's sports complex near Orlando, Florida, which was referred to as "the bubble," to minimize exposure risk to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
However, NBA officials are hoping to avoid the bubble when it begins the new season, playing games in the NBA teams' respective markets, similar to the way Major League Baseball conducted its return to play.
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