The Houston Rockets are now less than a month away from kicking off training camp for the 2020-21 NBA season.
As first reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic, the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) approved the NBA’s proposal to begin next season on Dec. 21. Due to the delayed start, the regular season will consist of 72 games, which is 10 shorter than the usual slate.
Training camps will start on Dec. 1, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
It’s a much shorter break between seasons than most years, since the 2020 NBA Finals didn’t conclude until October (thanks to the 2019-20 campaign’s multi-month hiatus from the COVID-19 pandemic). But the league has numerous financial incentives to begin the process of moving back closer to its traditional calendar, which features a regular season starting in the fall and the NBA Finals concluding in June.
The National Basketball Players Association has voted to tentatively approve NBA’s proposal for the 2020-21 campaign starting on Dec. 22 and playing 72-game season, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
NBA set to tip off Christmas week.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 6, 2020
For the Rockets, who played until mid-September, that December start date certainly makes for a rapid turnaround. However, given the league’s extensive time off from early March until early July, it’s worth noting that players didn’t enter the current offseason with anywhere near the usual mileage on their bodies (in terms of consecutive months played).
The NBA’s plan is to play its 2020-21 games with fans and in its traditional home markets and arenas, as opposed to the “bubble” format utilized to finish last season at Disney World near Orlando. However, it is not yet clear what capacity levels will be permissible for fans at NBA arenas. In this fall’s football season, the NFL’s Houston Texans are allowing approximately 20% of usual capacity at their home games.
The coronavirus pandemic has made life fluid, and a clinical vaccine will play a role in this too. NBA's goal is some amount of fans to start the season, depending on each market's restrictions. Courtside fans, for instance, would be about 10-to-12 feet away, sources said. https://t.co/9I9cdN1gN3
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 5, 2020
The NBA will hold its annual player draft on Nov. 18, with free agency to begin shortly thereafter. (The official date has yet to be finalized.) Then, on Dec. 1, training camps will open for teams throughout the league, including at Toyota Center in downtown Houston.
With an All-Star duo of James Harden and Russell Westbrook returning, the Rockets are again expected to be a playoff team and potential title contender out of the perennially strong Western Conference. They will, however, be led by new management, as Stephen Silas and Rafael Stone are replacing former head coach Mike D’Antoni and GM Daryl Morey. Next on the team’s offseason agenda is potentially upgrading its roster, with relatively aggressive spending a possibility as Houston looks to improve upon its No. 4 West finish (and second-round playoff exit) from 2020.
The NBA and NBPA are expected to discuss moving up the start of free agency as early as possible to accommodate players joining new teams so close to a Dec. 1 start of training camps, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 6, 2020
