The 2020-2021 season tips off the NBA on Tuesday after the shortest offseason in history against the backdrop of the Covid-19 crisis across the United States. More than two months after LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers brought down the curtain on a grueling, pandemic-interrupted season with an NBA Finals victory in the Orlando quarantine bubble, a shortened 72-game campaign continues with games in New York and Los Angeles. The Golden State Warriors face a road trip against the Brooklyn Nets before the Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers clash at the Staples Center.
The new season marks the first time league action has been at home since the 2019-2020 season was dramatically suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic spreading across the United States.
When the league resumed in July, the teams were in a single location at Disney World in Florida and kept in a tightly controlled bubble for three months to protect against the spread of Covid-19.
Yet the upcoming season will be held at 30 locations across the United States at a time when the country continues to set new records for coronavirus cases and deaths.
Travel, schedule tweaks
The NBA has adopted several measures designed to mitigate the Covid-19 threat, including stricter security protocols and a tweaked schedule that minimizes travel.
The new-look schedule — reduced from the standard 82 games — will see teams play each other more frequently on consecutive nights to reduce the amount of time spent on the road.
The league has also created a schedule for the first half of the season — through March 4 — to give itself flexibility over possible postponements.
Fans will also be largely absent from the arena.
Only a few teams are allowing a limited number of spectators to enter the venue. An ambitious plan by the Golden State to fill the Chase Center to 50% capacity was rejected by health authorities in San Francisco.
Arenas will not carry “Black Lives Matter” slogans on the court as they did when play resumed last season, nor will players wear jerseys carrying social justice messages.
The Toronto Raptors, the 2019 NBA champions, will play home games in Tampa, Florida, after Canadian authorities denied the NBA an exemption from Covid-19 restrictions on travel to and from the United States.
Teams and players need to click into gear again after the shortest offseason in history.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver initially indicated the league would resume in January, but the start was moved up to December, a move that allowed for a lucrative slate of televised games during the Christmas period.
The 72-game schedule means the regular season and playoffs could be completed in time for next year’s Tokyo Olympics, though it’s an open question whether players involved in the NBA Finals will be available to travel to Japan.
The final is scheduled to end just a day before the Olympics begin in Tokyo on July 23.
‘Bulsey’ on the Lakers
Most analysts expect James and the Lakers to be in contention for the NBA championship next year.
The Lakers, who beat the Miami Heat in six games in October to win the franchise’s 17th championship, are installed as heavy favorites to retain their crown after an offseason that saw several roster upgrades.
Already led by James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers added German point guard Dennis Schröder from the Oklahoma City Thunder and Montrejal Harrell from the Clippers, as well as Spanish veteran Marc Gasol.
That means the Lakers will likely be the team to beat when the season begins — a status James enjoys.
“For me personally, the bullseye has always been behind me or in front of me since I entered the league,” James said.
“And then you add the Lakers name on top of that. The Lakers franchise — Bullseye has been in this franchise for a long time. Everybody’s going to come to us.”
The Lakers will likely face stiff competition from several contenders, including the Brooklyn Nets, who will eventually be able to bring in the strike force of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Former MVP Durant returns after more than a year away.
Led by Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo, last season’s Finals runner-up Miami will also hope to be in the hunt.
The Milwaukee Bucks, meanwhile, will head into the new campaign buoyed by the news that Giannis Antetokounmpo has committed his future to the franchise. The back-to-back MVP signed a new five-year deal last week.
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