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There is still a lot that is unknown about the NBA’s plans to resume the season, but with each day that passes, we’re starting to get a better idea of when, where and how the Lakers and other teams will play again.
According to a report by Sam Amick and Shams Charania of The Athletic, the NBA is hoping to restart its season at Orlando’s Walt Disney World Resort some time in July. Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reiterated that report in a tweet last week.
The NBA has entered into exploratory conversations with the Walt Disney Corporation about restarting the remainder of its season at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida in late July, NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said Saturday.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 23, 2020
What remains unclear is how many teams will be making the trip to Orlando, and what format they’ll be playing in.
While there is a financial incentive for most of the NBA to play a few more regular season games, half of the league’s general managers would prefer to go straight into the postseason, according to a report from Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer on Thursday. O’Connor also reported that 75% of general managers are in favor of a play-in tournament for the eighth seed in the Western Conference, which could theoretically change who the Lakers see in the first round.
In today’s episode of “Can U Dig It?”, a podcast by Silver Screen and Roll, co-hosts Jacob Rude and Christian Rivas ranked the five teams in the mix for the eighth seed — the Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs — based on how they match up with the Lakers. They also discussed how other playoff formats would impact the Lakers’ pursuit of a 17th NBA title.
You can listen to the full episode below, and to make sure you never miss a single one, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.
You can also follow ours hosts on Twitter at @RadRivas and @JacobRude.