It's official: the 2020-2021 NBA season will begin on December 22.
The North American Basketball League has reached an agreement with the players' union (NBPA) on the various terms of the takeover and on the financial terms.
"This agreement must still be submitted to the vote of the board of directors of the league", bringing together the owners of franchises specified the two authorities.
A formality in principle.
This date is good news in view of the next Tokyo Olympics, if they take place next summer (July 23 - August 8) after being postponed by one year due to sanitary conditions.
If it had resumed later, around Martin Luther King Day (January 18), an important day in the United States, NBA players and in particular French players would undoubtedly not have been able to be released to play the Olympics at the end of July. August.
The NBA season could not have ended on time.
By resuming a month earlier with a season shortened to 72 regular season games instead of 82, there is hope that the NBA season will be completed before the Olympics.
NBA and NBPA agree on 2020-21 season start and adjustments to CBA.https: //t.co/HOaa1V9q8U pic.twitter.com/Z9m0OG8KI8
- NBA (@NBA) November 10, 2020
10% decrease in player salaries
Because it remains now for the NBA to finalize its schedule in the coming weeks.
Some teams like the Golden State Warriors, absent from the playoffs played in the Orlando health bubble this summer, have not played since March.
Conversely, the last finalists, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat with a recovery just before Christmas will have barely had 2 months of vacation.
On the financial level, the collective agreement has been amended, taking into account the negative impact of the new coronavirus pandemic on basketball-related income.
The NBA has estimated a possible loss of revenue of up to 40%, due to the lack of ticketing, with games scheduled to be played behind closed doors until further notice.
The two parties have agreed on a principle of withholding from players' salaries up to 10% to cover losses over several seasons.
If it is necessary to reduce salaries a little more, their loss will be spread over the coming season, as well as over the next two, knowing that players should never have to deplore a reduction of more than 20% of their salary. over a single season.