Paris –
The Olympic basketball tournament in Tokyo will not be deprived of NBA stars despite the short time between the finals and the 2021 Games, the international basketball federation (FIBA) said on Wednesday.
“Even in the worst case scenario, the NBA season will end before the opening ceremony of the Games“General Secretary Andreas Zagklis insisted in a video press conference.
The NBA and the Players Association (NBPA) found an agreement in mid-November to avoid an overlap of the North American league schedule, moved due to the pandemic, with the Olympic basketball tournament.
The regular season has been reduced to 72 games, compared to 82 regularly, to allow the NBA Finals to end on July 22 at the latest, the eve of the opening ceremony of the Games and just four days before the start of the men’s Olympic tournament, on July 26.
“If the NBA finals go until Game 7, there will only be a few days before the tournament“Andreas Zagklis acknowledged.” But all the other teams (with the exception of the two finalists) will have already finished their season, “he added.
“And even in the worst case scenario (of a seventh game), it will be over before the opening ceremony,” he insisted.
Although the two competitions do not collide head-on, the deadline is extremely short between them and raises the question of the presence of some players.
In addition, these players will have already known the shortest truce in the NBA, with 71 days only between the end of the 2019-2020 season and the 2020-2021 fiscal year, which begins on December 2.
Andreas Zagklis eliminated any concerns about it on Wednesday: “The reactions that come to us from all the players, including the NBA, is that the Games are one of the most important moments of his career“said the FIBA Secretary General. (D)
