Report: NBA, NBPA Forming Working Group to Discuss Strategies for Possible Return

The NBA and NBPA reportedly are forming a working group that will discuss strategies for the season's possible resumption.

The NBA and NBPA are forming a working group and will discuss strategies for the season's possible resumption on a phone call Tuesday, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.

The working group will include NBPA president Chris Paul and players Russell Westbrook, Jayson Tatum, Kyle Lowry and Dwight Powell, reports Charania.

The NBA has yet to reach a decision on whether to finish the season and has floated a number of possible contingency plans. The league has been suspended since March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On Friday, commissioner Adam Silver took part in a league-wide call with the NBPA and reportedly told players that games are expected to be played without fans if the season resumes. ESPN reported that some players told Silver that if the season does return, "it would be safer to be in a single location, or two, to start." Las Vegas and Orlando remain the top site options and the commissioner reportedly hopes that the 2020 playoffs would still include a seven-game series in every round.

The NBA is facing a rough financial landscape amid its two-month hiatus. On Monday, the NBA and NBPA reportedly reached an agreement to extend the window that allows the league to end the collective bargaining agreement amid the coronavirus pandemic. The CBA's previous 60-day period, which began when the season was suspended on March 11, was set to expire this week. 

The deadline will be pushed back to September, which gives the NBA and the union time to look at financial losses and bargain on related issues. ESPN reported "that there's optimism" the league and NBPA can work together to adjust some of the financial issues.