Silver: 2021 Season Likely Won't Start Until January

The 2021 NBA season is not expected to start until January at the earliest, according to commissioner Adam Silver

The 2020-21 NBA season is expected to be more like the 2021 NBA season with a start date in January at the earliest, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told CNN.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver tells Bob Costas on @CNN that his “best guess” is that next season will begin in January at the earliest

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) September 22, 2020

The league is going to try to get things back to normal next year, playing 82 games with a full playoffs, a "standard season," Silver said.

Silver wouldn't rule out a Christmas Day start date at the earliest, though he called that unlikely.

As for if there will be fans in the stands next season, that remains uncertain.

In June, Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri said he was optimistic there would be fans at Raptors games next year and last week he reiterated his hope.

"I leave that to the NBA but I’m still optimistic," he said. "That’s one thing I am praying and hoping just like everyone else that we can get back to normal. I want to play with fans, I want us to figure this out. This pandemic is serious, we know there could be a second wave coming. For me, it is a priority for us to figure out how to get our fans involved and how to figure this out going forward.

"I know the NBA is grinding on this as much as they possibly can."

Unfortunately, COVID-19 cases in Ontario continue to climb. Tuesday's reported 478 new cases is the highest the province has reported since May 2. That total brings Ontario's seven-day rolling average up to 383 new cases a day, up from 242 one week ago, according to CP24.