Report: NBA Players Push for Jan. 18 Season Opener

The NBA is reportedly targeting Dec. 22 as its preferred start date for the 2019-20 season.

A "substantial faction" of NBA players are pushing the league to start the 2020-21 season on Jan. 18, according to Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes.

The proposed calendar from the players would make Dec. 1 the first day of free agency, per Haynes.

The NBA league office reportedly told the Board of Governors on Friday that Dec. 22 is the targeted start date for the 2020-21 season, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania. The league is considering a 72-game schedule for 2020-21 as well as a potential play-in tournament to determine the No. 8 seed in each conference. 

Starting the season on Dec. 22 would give players just over two months off after the 2019-20 season concluded in Orlando on Oct. 11. NBPA executive director Michele Roberts discussed the idea of starting in December on Tuesday, noting "I don’t know what I think yet."

"I don’t know what I think yet," Roberts told USA Today Sports' Mark Medina. "We are in the throes of discussing it and in the throes of evaluating what it means in terms of the revenue-related issues that have been raised. Frankly, we’re also spending some time trying to get information on what this means in respect to player health."

The NBA is currently planning to begin the season without fans in the stands. It hopes to play games in home arenas in 2020-21. However, it is "open to the idea of regional pods and intra-conference scheduling," per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe. 

The league hopes to end the 2020-21 season prior to the Tokyo Olympics on July 23, per Wojnarowski. There no expected All-Star Game or All-Star weekend next season.