NBA players may miss Olympics
The NBA is not expecting its players to take part in next year's Tokyo Olympics due to the schedule changes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, said its commissioner Adam Silver.
With the start of next season postponed until at least next January, a full schedule would not be completed by the time the postponed Olympics begin on July 23, 2021.
The Games were originally scheduled for this summer but were pushed back a year because of the pandemic. In normal years, the Olympics take place during the NBA's off-season.
"I think it's unlikely... that, if we start late, we would stop for the Olympics," Silver said last Friday.
"These are such extraordinary circumstances that, even if we set out to plan for the Olympics, how can they even know what the world is going to be like next summer and whether they can go forward?
"So I think during these extraordinary times, all the conventional rules are off the table."
The absence of NBA players would affect not just the United States. The league is also home to over 100 international players from countries like Australia, France, Spain and Japan. - REUTERS
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