The NBA is not likely to have a break next season when the postponed Olympics are held, league commissioner Adam Silver said, casting doubt on the availability of NBA players at the Tokyo Games.

The Olympics were postponed by a year, to July 23-Aug. 8 next year, because of the novel coronavirus, which also led to the NBA season being suspended, leading to a delay in the start of the new season and the conflict in schedules.

Related News

The NBA season usually runs from October to June but with the 2019-20 Finals series now finishing this month, the new season is expected to begin in January with plans for the usual 82-game campaign and playoffs to follow.

 “We’ll consider it. I think it’s unlikely at the end of the day that, if we start late, we would stop for the Olympics,” Silver told NBA TV.