NBA approves plan to restart 2019-2020 season

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The NBA has approved a plan to restart the 2019-2020 season, which ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Shams Charania, the NBA’s board of governors approved of a plan yesterday to restart the league at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida where the remainder of the season is to be played.

Games were suspended March 11 as COVID-19 began spreading widely in the U.S., and play will resume July 31.

The plan consists of teams playing eight regular season games before the NBA playoffs begin. The playoffs will still be under the previous rules with four rounds, and the most games that can be played in a series is seven. The first team to win three games in a series will advance.

ESPN’s Brian Windsor went in to greater details about the plans as they were announced.

“There will be up to seven games per day played over roughly three weeks during the August regular season, which the NBA has branded ‘seeding games,’ and it is likely there will be weekday afternoon playoff games during the the first round. Sources say the league will use three different facilities at first to stage games: The Arena, HP Field House and Visa Athletic Center, all at the Wide World of Sports Complex. As things progress, it will be reduced to two sites and then one,” Windsor said.

Although basketball will resume, there will be changes on how things will operate.

The league will conduct daily COVIID-19 testing, and anyone who tests positive will have to go into quarantine and receive treatment.