Formal voting by player representatives from the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) was completed on Thursday night and they approved to start the 2020-21 season on December 22 and play a shortened schedule. out of 72 games, the NBPA announced.
The NBPA Board of Player Representatives voted to approve the pre-Christmas kickoff in a conference call with NBPA Executive Director Michele Roberts, sources said. The NBA and NBPA plan to discuss opening free agency as quickly as possible after the Nov.18 draft to accommodate player movement with a short window before the start of training camps on Dec. 1, the officials said. sources.
The NBA and the NBPA will now determine the financial terms of an amended collective bargaining agreement, which runs next week, the sources said.
The league believes that a December 22 start, which includes Christmas Day games on television and allows for a 72-game schedule before the Summer Olympics in mid-July, is worth between $ 500 million and $ 1,000. millions of dollars in short-term and long-term revenue for the league and players, the sources said.
The NBA and NBPA have discussed significant increases in escrow withholding on player salaries and the parties are working to spread player losses over multiple seasons, so they don’t suffer such a substantial financial impact in one year. .
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