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Critical week for the NBA as it seeks to resume season

The Board of Governors will meet on Thursday and while nothing is definite, there is the expectation that a return plan will be approved

Sixers' Joel Embiid gets tangled with Pistons' Donta Hall  during the 1st quarter at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Wednesday, March 11, 2020.
Sixers' Joel Embiid gets tangled with Pistons' Donta Hall during the 1st quarter at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Wednesday, March 11, 2020.Read moreSTEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer

This is the week the NBA hopes to announce its format for resuming its season. The NBA continues to inch closer to an announcement. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the season was suspended on March 11, shortly after the 76ers defeated the visiting Detroit Pistons.

While there were no formal meetings this weekend, a league source said that wouldn’t have stopped all involved from discussing the issues.

No format has been definitely agreed to, the source said. The source also confirmed published reports that the board of governors will be meeting on Thursday. While it isn’t definite that a format will be approved that day by the NBA owners, it is expected to happen.

According to the source, it doesn’t appear likely that all 30 NBA teams will return when the season resumes, supposedly on July 31 at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla.

“I think 30 is not where a lot of teams wanted to go,” the source said.

ESPN has reported there is growing support to bringing back 22 teams.

Everything remains fluid.

One thing that has become clear in the negotiations is the confidence in commissioner Adam Silver to guide the league through such a difficult process.

Silver was the first commissioner to suspend a season. Throughout the process, he has been deliberate but firm in his approach.

“There has been a lot of confidence shown in Adam Silver,” said a different NBA source. “He takes everybody’s feedback into consideration and has made no rash decisions.”

What is known is that the Sixers will be part of any plan to return. The Sixers (39-26) were the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference when play was halted.

On Wednesday, the Sixers opened their practice facility in Camden for voluntary individual workouts. That came one day after New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced that all professional sports teams in the state can return to training and competition “if their leagues choose to move in that direction.”

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