The NBA decided to try and push a December 22nd start for the next season. I immediately knew that this would not sit well with at least some players. Like, I knew someone would have something to say. There were reports of not just some players but there is a large faction of players that want an MLK day start.
An Martin Luther King day start is more likely to happen. The NBA Board could have just thrown out the December start date as leverage in negotiations with the Players’ Association. The health and safety of these players should be at the forefront of priorities for the league. Most of them spent months playing basketball pretty much every day. I don’t see the players agreeing to anything remotely close to Christmas.
The Normal NBA season runs through Christmas and many teams play on that day. This would be the main reason that the players vote against a December start. Especially since this would be the only chance they get at having that holiday off. It will be interesting to see what price the league will be asking in order to take December off the table.
This upcoming season is going to be rushed as it is with the Summer Olympics in play. There is no definite answer on if the players will participate in this coming Olympics but the option should at least be there.
Who do you think is in that large faction of players that want an MLK day start? let me know in the comments or on Twitter.
Final Takes
My take on this is that the NBA will want more insurance in terms of finances. What that will be still needs to be figured out. The NBPA will have to seriously consider or we will all have some NBA basketball under our trees this year. Hopefully, both sides can come to an easy agreement because there is a lot that needs to be done before the season starts.
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