The governors of the NBA are said to be holding a call tomorrow in the early afternoon with the intention of approving a plan for the return of Basketball to be held in Orlando, Florida at the ESPN Wide World of Sports at the Walt Disney World Resort, according to ESPN.
What’s Happening:
- According to sources for ESPN, the NBA’s board of governors is set to hold a call tomorrow at 12:30 PM Eastern time in which they plan on approving the league’s plan of returning the sport of basketball.
- Under the proposal, the return of the NBA would begin on July 31st, with the last possible date for a 7th game in the finals taking place on October 12th.
- The plan will consist of the return of 22 teams with each team playing eight regular-season games in Orlando for seeding purposes for the playoffs.
- If the No. 9 seed is more than four games behind, the No. 8 seed will make the playoffs. If the No. 9 seed is less than four games back, there will be a play-in tournament.
- The return of the NBA is expected to be played at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The facility already has the built in media facilities and is already in an isolated area that will help with social distancing efforts.
- The NBA's Board of Governors requires a three-fourths passage of the 30 teams on this plan, but the expectation among owners is that they will fall into line and overwhelmingly approve the commissioner's recommendation.
- Joining the 16 current playoff teams in Orlando will be the:
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Phoenix Suns
- Sacramento Kings
- San Antonio Spurs
- Washington Wizards