The NBA won’t jump straight to the playoffs.
Unlike the NHL, the NBA will play eight more regular season games down in Orlando at Disney to determine seeding when the league returns during the coronavirus pandemic, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Each of the 22 teams will play eight regular season games in Orlando for seeding purposes for the playoffs, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 3, 2020
Shams Sharania added that the eight seeds will have a play-in tournament. There had been concerns some players might not return if there wasn’t a legit shot at the playoffs on the table. It looks like that situation is resolved.
Sources: NBA commissioner Adam Silver is planning to propose a 22-team format to resume the 2019-20 season
Story on @TheAthleticNBA with full details of the play-in tournament for 8th seed: https://t.co/d7X3X6uCNI
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 3, 2020
It’s going to be very interesting to see how this all plays out down in Orlando. The top priority has to be getting games going again.
That’s what the fans want more than anything, and it doesn’t really matter what format they come back in.
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Having said, playing eight games to close out the regular season will make sure guys have the rust shaken off for the postseason.
That way, they can be firing on all cylinders once that postseason field is sorted out.
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All things considered, the NBA seems to have done a good job. It’s not as interesting as the NHL jumping straight to the postseason, but it’s a start.