Silver now pegging January to start next season, wants full 82-game sked

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday his "best guess" is next season will begin in January. He also reiterated the league's goal is to not play games in bubble environments.

"I continue to believe we're going to be better getting into January," Silver told CNN's Bob Costas. "The goal for us next season is to play a standard season."

"(An) 82-game season and playoffs," he added. "And further, the goal would be to play games in home arenas, in front of fans."

It was reported this month the 2020-21 season's earliest start would be Christmas Day.

Silver has said several times the league prefers to have each team playing in its usual market next season, with fans in arenas. However, the continuing coronavirus pandemic makes it impossible to predict when that can be safely executed.

"There's still a lot that we need to learn in terms of rapid testing, for example. Would that be a means of getting fans into our buildings?" Silver continued.

A full season plus playoffs, if started in January, would reasonably be expected to extend until July at the earliest. A possible complicating factor is whether NBA players will participate in the Tokyo Olympics, which is now scheduled to begin on July 23, 2021.