Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
The 2019-20 NBA season will tip off Oct. 22, 2019, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor reported Monday.
By comparison, the 2018-19 campaign began Oct. 16, when the Boston Celtics hosted the Philadelphia 76ers and the Oklahoma City Thunder hit the road against the Golden State Warriors.
According to O’Connor, the playoffs will start a week later as well to correspond with the later start date for the regular season.
O’Connor noted the league wanted to “prevent opening night from occurring too early moving forward each year.”
The 2019 FIBA World Cup was a consideration as well. The tournament begins Aug. 31 in China and runs through Sept. 15. With the change, some of the game’s biggest stars will have a handful of more days to rest and get ready for the NBA season.
In 2017, the NBA moved up the start of the regular season to add an extra week to the league calendar. By doing so, the league created a little more down time between games and eliminated teams’ playing four games in five nights.
That should remain the case in 2019-20.
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