Most of the 22 NBA teams heading to Orlando, Florida, for the conclusion of the 2019-20 campaign will be eliminated no more than 53 days after they arrive.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, 14 of the teams will be eliminated from the championship picture within 53 days of arriving in central Florida. What's more, there will be just four teams left after 67 days with a potential NBA Finals start date of Sept. 30.
The six teams that do not make the playoffs following the eight regular-season games and potential play-in tournament would be out of Orlando within 35 to 40 days.
Wojnarowski noted the league plans on having teams briefly quarantine prior to training camps starting on July 9-11 before the season restarts on July 30.
That many teams will not be in Orlando for the duration of the season until a champion is crowned is notable given Wojnarowski's Wednesday report that "there's a faction of players discussing as a group whether restarting [the] season in the Orlando bubble is a good idea."
Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press noted "many" players are not pleased they may have to be apart from their families until potentially September.
In addition to concerns about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and being away from families, former NBA player Matt Barnes told Josiah Johnson of Yahoo Sports' Dunk Bait that "there are some whispers about some teams not being comfortable" about playing until police brutality and racial inequality issues are attended.
Concerns about racism and police brutality have controlled headlines of late, especially after the May 25 killing of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd said he could not breathe.
As for the format for the end of the season, every team will play eight regular-season games. If the No. 9 seed is within four games of the No. 8 seed, the two teams will face each other in a play-in tournament where the No. 9 seed would have to win two straight matches.
From there, the remaining 16 teams will play a traditional playoffs with best-of-seven series.
