The league is taking, according to sources who’ve heard its discussions with its teams, college and pro football’s position – essentially, we’re going to push through this season, come hell or high water. Football is doing so despite dozens of teenagers getting infected, and numerous college games being canceled. The NFL forges on, despite players being pulled off the field moments before games because of positive tests, or the folly of a team literally not having a quarterback available to play a game. It’s the NFL; it’s incapable of being shamed.
More on 2020-21 Season Plans
Fred Katz: The NBA is planning to administer a daily point-of-care, rapid testing system for the 2020-21 season, sources tell me and @ShamsCharania . Test results expected within approximately 30 minutes in home markets and 90 minutes on the road.
“In March,” one team executive lamented of the NBA this week, “you took the lead in the sports world. You said ‘we’re shutting down,’ for everyone’s safety. It was serious then. It’s worse now.”
My suspicion is the NBA’s position, writ small, is: could it be wrong to start now? Yes. But it’s worth making a reasonable try at it, and the people who potentially could be the most impacted will also be the most taken care of if they get sick. (While teams fly private, NBA referees will still fly commercial, though the league is trying to put additional safety precautions in place for officials.)
Andrew Lopez: Statement from team spokesman Greg Bensel on the Pelicans being allowed to have 4 percent capacity or around 800 fans at home games: pic.twitter.com/NWPlG7E6Wp
The Warriors can move ahead with training camp and their plans to play NBA games at Chase Center, despite Friday’s announcement of regional stay-at-home orders in the Bay Area, including one in San Francisco starting Monday at 12:01 a.m.
The Warriors, whose proposal to bring spectators back to games was denied by public health officials, submitted another plan for hosting practices and games without live audiences. That plan was approved, according to a league source, based mostly on the team’s daily coronavirus testing protocol for players and other employees.
James Ham: Fans will not be allowed to attend games at Golden 1 Center to start the 2020-21 season. The Kings will follow state and local guidelines.
Tom Orsborn: #Spurs announce they have "targeted" the Jan. 1 game against the Lakers for "welcoming fans" back to the AT&T Center in a "limited capacity, pending the status of public health data and guidelines."
Omari Sanfoka II: Not a surprise, but the Pistons won't have fans at the LCA to start the season. Per the release, they're working with the NBA and local officials to figure out when it'll be safe to do so.
Josh Robbins: In a release, Magic officials said: "Plans are being made for a socially-distanced, limited capacity at the Amway Center. Season ticket holders will be given first priority based on their tenure, followed by fans who have made a season ticket deposit."
Adrian Wojnarowski: Sources: NBA’s Competition Committee registered strong support today for increasing league’s active player list for games from 13 to 15. Board of Governors must give final approval to a move that makes sense given shortened season and concerns over Covid impact on rosters.
"The health and safety of our fans, players and staff remains our top priority, and after careful consideration in collaboration with the NBA and city and state officials, we will not be hosting fans in the United Center for the beginning of the 2020-21 NBA season," the team said in a statement. "We will continue working with the league and city and state officials to evaluate conditions to determine if there is a timeline that would allow for fans later this season."
The 2019 NBA champions spent a couple of months in Orlando — about an hour and 10 minutes east of Tampa – in the bubble before being eliminated by Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals. (The Raptors were also the first non-Florida team on the ground in the Sunshine State, having held camp at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers in late June.) They have some recent intel on life in Florida. But this is still going to be a major disruption. While the NBA’s other 29 teams will have at least some sense of normalcy being back in their home arenas this season, the Raptors will be displaced — again — and likely practicing at hotels and other makeshift locations. How big will Toronto’s competitive disadvantage be?
“Obviously, I would love to be coming back to Toronto,” guard Fred VanVleet said last week. “I haven’t been since March, so it’s been a long time since I’ve been there. Toronto has turned into my second home. Obviously, we miss the city, but I think we’ve gotta be excited about what’s ahead of us. I can’t not be excited about it, it won’t make the experience that great. We were in Florida for a while with the bubble in Orlando, and right back there in Tampa, so hopefully it’s a good experience.”
In addition: There will clearly be at least some competitive disadvantage for the Raptors this season, playing in an unfamiliar city without any of their longtime fans present, compared with the other 29 teams, who will at least be in familiar locker rooms and sleeping in their own beds after home games. Also unique to the Raptors: They’ll have to deal with the Super Bowl, currently scheduled to be played at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 7. That will make securing accommodations for players in the days before that game all that much more difficult. In addition, no one can say with certainty at present how long a lease players should agree to sign while in Florida: Six months? Nine months? A year?
What happens if and when a player tests positive? Any time a player tests positive for COVID-19, he will have to go through a series of steps before being able to play again.
If the player is asymptomatic, he must sit out for 10 days from when first testing positive, then pass a cardiac screen and, finally, work out alone at the team facility for two more days before being allowed to return to full team activities -- assuming there are no issues. If the player is symptomatic, he must sit out for 10 days from when symptoms subside, then follow the same path as asymptomatic players.
If a player gets a serious case of COVID-19 -- up to and including going to the hospital -- he would have to work out alone for three days, rather than two, before being cleared to return to team activities, assuming everything checks out. Basically, fans can expect that if a player tests positive, he will be unable to play for at least two weeks -- and if he shows symptoms, that time frame could easily grow longer
What happens if an individual or a team breaks COVID-19 protocol? It remains unclear how the NBA will handle potential fines for breaking COVID-19 protocol. The league is still finalizing how it will handle violations, but expect the NBA to follow the NFL's lead in that fines will likely vary depending on the severity of each violation. The NFL has fined a number of teams for not properly wearing masks. The league also fined Washington Football Team quarterback Dwayne Haskins just under $5,000 for making a reservation for a family friend at the team hotel.
Will games be suspended for positive tests? Much like the NFL, potential game suspensions or postponements will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. NFL teams have tried to play through the schedule when only a handful of players test positive in an organization, but schedules have had to be altered in outbreak situations. The NBA remains confident in its protocols, but it remains to be seen how it will handle the situation if several players on one team test positive at the same time
Shams Charania: Targeted NBA deadline for players to be waived and eligible for postseason rosters: April 9, sources said.
Joe Mussatto: The OKC-County Health Department issues a statement supporting the Thunder’s decision to not allow fans at home games. pic.twitter.com/rIHlpAkliL
Marc Stein: Still to be finalized, of course, is a firm NBA trade deadline for the 2020-21 season The league said earlier this week that its revised All-Star plans for this season will also be announced at a later date
Malika Andrews: Each team’s traveling party for the 2020-21 season will be limited to 45 people (including up to 17 players), per health and safety protocol. That is a slightly bigger traveling party than teams were allowed for the Bubble. Teams must register initial traveling party by Dec. 10.
Mark Medina: Per the NBA's memo sent to owners, GMs & training staffs: Nov. 24-30 – Voluntary individual workouts Dec. 1-5 - Training camp for required individual workouts. Dec. 6-10 – Training Camp for required group workouts. Dec. 11-21 Preseason. Dec. 22 -onwards) - Regular season.
Tim Reynolds: Also, the NBA definition of fever: 100.4 degrees.
Shams Charania: NBA-NBPA Core Health and Safety Principles for 2020-21 season: pic.twitter.com/IjtYUPPi77
Rick Bonnell: Heard something interesting about training camp rosters: There are NBA teams not planning to bring the maximum number of allowable players to camp, on the reasoning that adds to potential COVID risk/complications. That means some teams would not have any more players than available roster spots. The downside: Fewer bodies to scrimmage, particularly if you have nagging injuries holding out rotation players.
Joe Mullinax: Coach Taylor Jenkins says training camp begins as early as December 4th but could be December 6th, as per the NBA. He hopes to start the 4th as long as COVID isn’t an issue.
Eric Woodyard: All-Star Rudy Gobert to ESPN on Utah Jazz allowing limited fans in arena: “I think that if they make it happen they probably have the scientific evidence that it would be safe for us and for the fans in attendance.” Gobert was the 1st NBA player to test positive for COVID-19.
Andy Larsen: Jazz announce their intentions to have 1,500 fans in the lower bowl only of Jazz games at Vivint Arena this season. “The Jazz believe this is a responsible way to start the season from a public health and safety standpoint," Jazz President Jim Olson said.
Eric Nehm: The Bucks just announced that their games in the 2020-21 season will be held without fans until further notice in accordance with state and local guidelines. Full release here: pic.twitter.com/LrPJqlJ9q0
Marc Stein: NBA teams have been notified that no more than 50 people at one time will be allowed in practice facilities this season, @NYTSports has learned The full range of health and safety protocols for the coming season, sources say, are still being finalized by the league and union
Chris Mannix: In what reinforces why the Raptors won't play in Canada, at least to start the season: Toronto is going into a 28-day lockdown, effective Monday. COVID-19 infections have been on the rise.
Ryan Wolstat: Masai Ujiri on Raptors heading to Tampa: "Ultimately, the current public health situation facing Canadians, combined with the urgent need to determine where we will play means that we will begin our 2020-21 season in Tampa, Florida."
Josh Lewenberg: Statement from Raptors president Masai Ujiri: pic.twitter.com/SuZWVxD3HL
San Francisco’s Department of Public Health rejected the Warriors’ ambitious plan to bring back more than 9,000 spectators to games during the upcoming NBA season, while pledging to work with the team to host fans at Chase Center once the coronavirus pandemic eases.
Warriors officials hatched their plan — which included coronavirus testing for all spectators ahead of games — over the past eight months. The protocols would have been the first of their kind and could have marked a new phase in the return of spectators to sports in the U.S. But local officials told The Chronicle last week that they were wary of the idea, especially as the state experiences its fastest increase of cases since the pandemic began.
Kellan Olson: NBA announced the structure and format to the upcoming season, including the play-in tournament with the 7-10 seeds being official. Suns will have 3 games against each team in the West (42 games) and 2 games against each team in the East (30 games).
Fred Katz: NBA announces dates for the upcoming season: • Dec. 11-19: Preseason • Dec. 22-March 4: First Half of reg season • March 5-10: All-Star break • March 11-16: Second Half of reg season • May 18-21: Play-In Tournament • May 22 – July 22: Playoffs
Sean Cunningham: Unique feature with the NBA schedule this season, as it will be released in two segments. The first half of the season schedule released around the start of training camp, while the second is released during the latter part of the first half portion of the schedule.
Ian Begley: NBA announces details for 2020-21 scheduling;
Where is training camp, and where are we playing this season? “I don’t know what to tell [my client]” said an agent for one Raptors player. “He’s pretty particular about his living arrangements and likes to have all that stuff figured out well in advance but right now the team isn’t saying anything and so we just have to wait. I’m going to hire a realtor in Tampa tomorrow just in case.”
Based on multiple sources it seems like an arrangement where the Raptors play their games in Tampa at Amalie Arena (home of the Tampa Bay Lightning) and train in the community nearby – the University of South Florida has hosted NBA teams for training camps in the past, as an example – is the leading option if the Raptors can’t get the necessary exemptions from quarantine requirements to travel freely across the border. But even late last week Fort Lauderdale and Nashville were mentioned as options to agents asking about where their clients might be headed.
Several agents representing Raptors players contacted by Sportsnet said they’ve received little to no insight from the team about where their clients may be headed in the short- or long-term. “It’s a little surprising,” said one. “You would think they would say, ‘We really want to be in Toronto but just in case, familiarize yourself with Tampa – or wherever – just in case.”
Shams Charania: As of now, the NBA is expecting 5-to-10 teams to host an amount of fans in their arenas to start the 2020-21 season, sources tell @The Athletic @Stadium.
Joe Vardon: NBA preseason games are expected to begin Dec. 11 at the earliest. It also looks like ‘team’ camps will start Dec. 5. The first few days are supposed to be individual workouts. And the league is expected to release at least a portion of its game schedule in two weeks.
The league knows when it will hold the draft (Wednesday), start free agency (Nov. 20), open camps (Dec. 1) and begin the regular season (Dec. 22). The salary cap and luxury-tax lines for the season have been set. Outside of that, little is known at this point about how things will work this season, which has led to frustration around the league. "I'd love to be able to tell you something, but I don't know anything," one Western Conference executive told ESPN. "I find out everything from the media."
Canada's deputy chief of public health says the Toronto Raptors have presented a good plan to play at home this coming NBA season, but concerns remain over enforcing strict health protocols and travel over the border with the United States.
Dr. Howard Njoo said the Raptors presented a plan with good health protocols and have learned from the NBA's "bubble" experiment, when the league finished the 2019-20 season at an isolated campus near Orlando, Fla. But Njoo said the NBA will not be using the hub city concept for the upcoming season, and that it would be "tough on everyone involved" to observe the same health measures over a months-long NBA season during which teams are not isolated together.
Chris Paul, the president of the National Basketball Players Association and guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder, spoke Thursday at a Time100 event and said the league and the union are continuing to work through countless details that have to be settled before the new season begins with training camps next month and the start of games on Dec. 22.
“There’s still a lot of questions that have to be answered,” Paul said. “But we’re working on it. Nothing is perfect and everything that you see … we’re sort of learning everything on the fly. The only thing that’s in control right now is that virus. We’re working hard to try to make sure that not only our players are happy but our fans are happy.”
Marc Stein: Talks are ongoing, sources say, to grant players on two-way contracts more than 45 days in the NBA to make them far more available to their NBA teams With such a short offseason (for some teams) and more of a coronavirus threat, teams naturally want the added roster flexibility
It’s official: The NBA is coming back Dec. 22. The NBA’s board of governors unanimously approved Tuesday the financial terms and other parameters that were negotiated between the league and its players. Those talks were completed late Monday night, when the league and National Basketball Players Association announced they are in agreement on a revised collective bargaining agreement for this coming season — setting the stage for a frenzied few weeks before games resume.
Sources also said that, in an attempt to ease the tax burdens of teams that had been planning on the salary cap and luxury tax continuing to steadily rise, the NBA will reduce the luxury tax bill for teams at the end of the 2021 season by the percentage amount that the league's basketball-related income (BRI) declines from initial projections.
Owners and players worked out a deal approved Monday night on when to start the season, its length, and other details. Teams are expected to be limited to 25 to 50 percent of suite capacity (driven by local market health safety rules), and there could be some fans sitting courtside (but further from the hardwood than normal), and some lower bowl seating, too, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
The loss of five home games for every club translates into an average of $13.5 million per team in lost revenue from just fans, or $405 million collectively for all 30 clubs, according to new calculations from Chicago-based sports business intelligence firm Team Marketing Report.
Ian Begley: NBA says its Board of Governors unanimously approved the CBA changes previously agreed to by the league and the NBPA: pic.twitter.com/TpHpKXFAZf
Andy Larsen: Jazz just sent out this statement from team president Jim Olson. pic.twitter.com/j93VfDRJKT
Brandon Rahbar: Thunder will have fans in The Peake this season. No word yet on if they’ll have a coach in The Peake this season.
In case playing games at home isn’t possible to start the season, the Raptors have looked into several potential contingency locations – including Newark, Nashville and Tampa Bay, among others. However, they don’t have a locked and loaded Plan B. They believe it’s too early to give up on their very clear Plan A – hosting teams north of the border.
Adrian Wojnarowski: The NBA and NBPA have reached agreement on an amended CBA, sources tell @Tim Bontemps and me. Free agency begins at 6 PM on Nov. 20, with signings allowed at 12:01 PM on Nov. 22.
Tim Bontemps: The salary cap ($109.1 million) and luxury tax ($132.7 million) will remain the same next season. In future seasons, the cap and tax will increase by a minimum of 3 percent — and a maximum of 10 percent, sources said.
Tim Bontemps: Besides the salary cap & luxury tax remaining the same this season as they were in 2019-20, there will be a reduction in the luxury tax bill for teams at the end of the season based off the percentage BRI decreased from initial projections during the 2020-21 season, sources said.
Tim Bontemps: The two sides have agreed to keep the typical 10 percent escrow from player salaries, with any further reductions being spread out across that season and the following two seasons. No single season will ever have a greater reduction than 20 percent, sources said.
Paul Garcia: Agreement in principle between the NBA and NBAPA
League officials are confident that the reduced number of games and adjustments to reduce travel will aid teams. Such adjustments, although not finalized, would include more instances of teams playing the same opponent twice in the same city, as well as instances when teams would play more games against teams in nearby markets. (For example, more teams visiting Los Angeles would play the Lakers and Clippers on the same trip.) One other instance that could reduce travel is limiting one-game road trips.
League officials also noted that a shorter offseason is typical during years in which there is an Olympics or other international offseason, which is to say they believe the timeline players are facing now isn't unusual.
Multiple officials also said they expected the two teams that just played in the Finals to potentially rest their stars and others early on while treating the first month of games as a sort of extended training camp and preseason. The Lakers and Miami Heat would be the only teams to experience a season turnaround of just 71 days, whereas the traditional offseason since the 1983-84 season lasts 141 days for Finals franchises.
Tim Reynolds: Been asked twice privately today about whether media will be allowed in for NBA games when they restart in December, so I'll answer it openly it here: The answer is yes. Not sure why anyone thinks otherwise. As of now, we'll be in arenas. Somehow. Somewhere.
