NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says its 2021 season is “unlikely†to take a break for the Olympics.
It raises the probability that most leading nations will be without their best male basketballers for the Games. A number of coaches would also be ruled out.
“We’ll consider it,” he told NBA TV. “I think it’s unlikely, at the end of the day, that, if we start late, we would stop for the Olympics.
“Because, as you know, it’s not just a function of stopping for the period in which they are competing over in Tokyo. But they require training camp, and then they require rest afterwards.”
Silver has signalled the NBA will start its 2021 campaign in January, meaning it would run into the period of the Games which are slated to take place in Tokyo from July 23 – August 8. It would also clash with the four Olympic qualifying tournaments which also had to be postponed by one year due to the Covid pandemic.
108 non-American players were on NBA rosters this season with the USA Canada, France and Australia likely to be the hardest hit by any date clash.
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