The Olympic basketball tournament in Tokyo in the summer of 2021 may have to take place without NBA stars. “We will consider it. I think it is ultimately unlikely that we would stop for the Olympic Games if the league started late,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on the sidelines of the second final game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat (124: 114) on Friday.
The current NBA season was interrupted in March due to the corona crisis and only resumed in late July. According to Silver, the next season will not start before Christmas and will not end when the postponed summer games start on July 23, 2021.
The considerations are not only about a break during the games, as Silver explained, but also an early release of national players for training camps and a break after the Tokyo trip. The NBA boss admitted that this decision would hit the teams outside of the US hard, “because some of their stars are in our league and their absence would make a big difference to these national teams.”
© SZ vom 04.10.2020 / sid
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