- Kyle Lowry speaks out on trade rumors involving him and complaints from Miami Heat fans about his scoring
- Report: Heat began talking to Timberwolves about possible Kyle Lowry-D’Angelo Russell trade in December
- Shaquille O’Neal leaves Bam Adebayo off of his All-Star reserve ballot
- NBA executives believe the Miami Heat may not be willing to part with Caleb Martin for Cam Reddish
- Report: Miami Heat not willing to offer Caleb Martin to Phoenix Suns for Jae Crowder
- Report: Miami Heat interested in adding help at guard
- Report: Heat, Suns, Mavericks and Clippers interested in D’Angelo Russell
- Bam Adebayo slams All-Star voting: ‘There are guys that shouldn’t even be on that list’
- Pat Riley says he still roots for LeBron James
- Report: Miami Heat expected to show ‘some interest’ in Josh Hart
Report: NBA Would ‘Love’ to Have 70-Game Season in Addition to Playoffs
- Updated: March 16, 2020
The NBA suspended its regular season on Wednesday after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus.
At the time of the announcement, the suspension was to be in effect for at least 30 days. However, a recommendation from the CDC has forced the NBA to push back the restart of the regular season by at least a few more weeks.
Despite the setback, the NBA is hoping it will play at least 70 regular season games before the start of the playoffs.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the league wants to play at least 70 regular season games because of its obligation to regional sports networks.
“What they would love to do is to get to 70 games,” Windhorst said on his podcast. “And the reason is it’s 70 is a key number is because that is what the deliverable is to the regional sports networks. They are promised 70 games.”
Prior to the suspension of the regular season, most teams had played up to 65 games.
“Now, just because a team like the [Los Angeles] Lakers, for example, to get to 70 games … they wouldn’t necessarily be able to deliver on that because they’ve had a lot of national games,” Windhorst said. “But getting to 70 would be helpful in retaining revenue because they wouldn’t have to refund some to the local TV.”
If the suspension extends into the summer, it will likely push back the start of the 2020 season.
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