Report: NBA season starting on Dec. 22 ‘expected’ to be approved this week

The start date of the 2020-21 NBA season has been a hot topic of discussion as of late, with a lot of speculation about whether Dec. 22 is too early for players.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the early start date of Dec. 22 is on the verge of being approved this week.

“NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the Board of Governors are awaiting a formal acceptance on the Dec. 22 date and both sides expect that’ll happen this week, sources said.

“Organizations and players are proceeding with the urgency of a quick-turnaround to the start of the season, including the Nov. 18 NBA Draft, free agency and training camps starting on Dec. 1, sources said. Once an agreement is reached, the league will lift a moratorium and re-open the league for business on trades prior to the draft.”

Over the past few weeks, players have publicly expressed their displeasure with the proposed early start ahead of Christmas Day.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James even went as far as to joke that if the season starts in December, he’ll be taking it easy during the first half of the 2020-21 campaign.

James’ teammate Danny Green believes that star players might take the first month off to prepare themselves for the rigors of an NBA season.

Although players clearly aren’t happy about the early start to the season, the NBA is ready to make Dec. 22 the official start date and could receive a fair amount of backlash as a result.