Report: NBA may delay 2020-21 season start date to allow for fans

The NBA could push back its planned start date for the 2020-21 season - Dec. 1 - if the delay would allow for arenas to be reopened for fans, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

The league has considered Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 18 as a potential date for opening night, while February and March are also options if necessary COVID-19 testing measures that would allow for the possibility of public gatherings are in place.

With this season's NBA Finals scheduled to run until Oct. 12 at the latest, the 2020-21 campaign's current projected start date means players on Finals teams would have less than a month off before training camps begin.

It was previously reported in June that the league was reluctant to push back the start of next season for fear of conflicting with the Tokyo Olympics next summer.