The next NBA season could be delayed as far back as March 2021 – leaving the Golden State Warriors with much to ponder.
Next season can’t come soon enough for the Golden State Warriors – who are eager to erase the pain of their league-worst 15-50 record this year. While the Orlando bubble has been an encouraging breakthrough in an otherwise disastrous run for sports, it could take until March of 2021 for the Dubs to hit the floor again.
The current season is set to end no later than mid-October, transitioning quickly into the NBA Draft with a quick free agency period following soon after. Then, the proposed date for a return to play is December 1. However, there is a new factor that could affect that date.
Adrian Wojnarowski reported that if the NBA feels confident they will be able to have fans in attendance later next yet – the league would opt to start the season later in order to accommodate those fans.
There is hope that this could occur in January but Woj stated that the season could be delayed as far as March.
This is obviously heartbreaking news for fans who are begging to see the Warriors play basketball again. But, there are some positives to take away from this.
First and foremost – it would benefit everybody to have fans (safely) back in arenas. If there’s one thing the bubble has been lacking, it’s the energy of a roaring crowd. Not to mention the financial impact of having paying fans back in the stands.
Furthermore, this would likely extend the offseason – giving a banged-up Warriors team more time to recover and evaluate who they want to target in free agency. This is tough news to hear but it might be for the betterment of the franchise and the league as a whole.