FILE – LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, Danny Green of the Los Angeles Lakers and Dwight Howard of the Los Angeles Lakers talk with referee Marc Davis during the third quarter in Game Five of the 2020 NBA Finals on October 9, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images/AFP
MANILA, Philippines — If the Los Angeles Lakers will have their way, they wouldn’t want the new NBA season to tip off in December.
Lakers swingman Danny Green said the newly-minted NBA champions, who have several players already in their 15h NBA season and beyond, would prefer a later start to the season.
“I think most guys, if they say we’re starting in December, I think they’re like ‘I’m not gonna be there,’” said the 33-year-old Green during an appearance on The Ringer.
“If I had to guess, because we have a lot of vets on our team, it’s not like we have a bunch of young guys and rookies, we’ll probably have three or four young guys and rookies, say we’re fortunate enough to bring the same team back. We have (Rajon Rondo) who’s on Year 15, Dwight (Howard) who’s in Year 17, (LeBron James) who’s in Year 18.”
The Lakers just won the title earlier this month in a grueling season that spanned for almost a year due to a four-month hiatus brought about by the pandemic.
The NBA is reportedly considering a Dec. 22 start for its 2020-21 season.
“These guys just played a whole season, Bron’s been in the Finals 10 years out of his 17 years, which is unbelievable mentally. It’s straining to do that, and to have that quick of a restart, I wouldn’t expect to see him there, I wouldn’t expect to see him probably for the first month of the season. He’ll probably be working out with us, but I just don’t expect guys to want to be there or show up willingly,” Green said.