The NBA will attempt to relaunch its suspended season with 22 teams vying for the championship after the league's board of governors voted to approve Commissioner Adam Silver's plan during a Thursday conference call, according to people not authorized to speak publicly.
Twenty-two teams will continue the season in Orlando, Fla., by finishing the regular season with eight games each before heading into the playoffs. If the ninth-place team is within four games of the eighth-place team in each conference, they'll enter a wild-card playoff, with the lower-seeded team needing to win two games to advance.
The top eight teams in each conference will be joined by New Orleans, Portland, San Antonio, Sacramento, Phoenix and Washington.
Teams will be seeded by conference, and each playoff series will be best-of-seven games. The Lakers (49-14) lead the Western Conference by 5 { games over the second-place Clippers (44-20). The Milwaukee Bucks (53-12) lead the Eastern Conference by 6 { games over the defending champion Toronto Raptors (46-18).
The regular season is scheduled to begin July 31, with the NBA Finals potentially stretching to Oct. 10.
The plan still needs approval from the players' union. The league also needs to finalize details and sign a contract with Disney to host the rest of the 2019-20 season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Details about the league's medical plans are scarce. The NBA will reportedly need at least 15,000 tests for the coronavirus, a way to quickly and safely perform and process the tests, and a plan for how to handle positive tests. Tests are expected to be daily.
The league also has to implement policies for high-risk players and coaches.
Still, Thursday's vote is the most significant step towards a resumption of basketball since the season was suspended on March 11.
