Prior to Thursday night’s important Game 2 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers, there was an important order of business for the NBA that occurred in the minutes before the game. During the ESPN broadcast of the NBA Draft Lottery, which determined the draft order for the first 14 picks of the 2020 NBA Draft, Adam Silver admitted what had been reported earlier in the day. A start to the 2020-21 season in early December is unlikely to come to pass.
For the NBA, the No. 1 priority is getting fans back into arenas and they will try to wait as long as possible for that revenue stream to be available to them.
Adam Silver tells @Rachel__Nichols that a Dec 1 start to next season is feeling “a little bit early to me.” Because “our No. 1 goal is to get fans back into our arenas.” If it’s pushed back, and it increases the likelihood of fans in arenas, “that’s what we’d be targeting.”
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) August 21, 2020
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported earlier in the day that the NBA Player’s Association was already telling their players to prepare for a delay in free agency and a delay in the start of the NBA Draft as well.
The first pick in Thursday’s lottery was won by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
