NBA return to play: Key dates and important details

Key dates and details as the NBA votes to resume 2019-20 season

As the NBA inches closer to a return to action (the league approved a 22-team resumption of the 2019-20 season Thursday afternoon), key dates and important details are beginning to reveal themselves.

Now that the NBA board of governors has approved a plan to resume the 2019-20 season in Orlando, Florida on Disney property, there are a few important dates that will take place before the season officially resumes July 31.

Before we get to those dates, here are the details about the resumption of the season that we know so far:

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• 22 teams (13 Western Conference and 9 Eastern Conference) will make their way into the NBA bubble in Orlando.
• 8 regular-season games to determine and solidify playoff seeding.
• A single and double-elimination tournament will take place to determine the final playoff seed in each conference, if necessary.
• Each round of the playoffs will consist of the traditional seven-game series.

At least up to the minute, that is the way the NBA will be conducting the resumption of the season. There are key dates that have been announced as well. The two most important being that the official start of basketball will be July 31 and the season will end no later than October 12.

Here are a few more key dates that have been announced:

• Players report June 21, COVID-19 testing begins June 22.
• Training camp begins on June 30.
• Report to Orlando on July 7.
• The season continues on July 31.
• NBA Draft Lottery takes place on August 25.
• NBA Draft will take place on October 15.
• NBA Free Agency will begin on October 18.
• 2020-21 training camp opens November 10.
• 2020-21 NBA season opens on December 1*

*Subject to change

The 2019-20 NBA season is expected to return to play after more than four months into a hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out when all the final details and protocols are in place.

The great news is that it appears the NBA is back. Well, it will be back in roughly two months.