As a longtime NBA analyst who's been tracking league schedules for over a decade, I can confidently say the 2021 season brought one of the most fascinating calendar shifts I've ever witnessed. Normally I'd be looking at an October tip-off, but here we were in December 2020 still waiting for the official announcement. The league finally confirmed the December 22nd start date on November 10th, giving teams just over six weeks to prepare - one of the shortest offseasons in professional sports history.
What made this particularly challenging was the compressed 72-game schedule, down from the usual 82 games. Teams would be playing conference opponents three times instead of four, and the season would conclude before the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021. I remember thinking this schedule was absolutely brutal - teams would be playing back-to-backs with minimal rest, and the injury risk seemed substantially higher than normal seasons. The NBA had to balance making up for lost revenue from the pandemic-shortened previous season while ensuring player safety, creating this incredibly tight timeline that had coaches and players alike expressing concerns throughout training camp.
The comparison that comes to mind is actually international basketball tournaments, where teams often face similar scheduling challenges. I'm reminded of the Philippines' impressive showing in that tournament last January, where they went toe-to-toe with the only champions of the tournament now on its third staging. They were the last team to enter as the best third-placer during the qualifying stage, yet managed to compete at the highest level despite the compressed preparation time. This mirrors what NBA teams faced - limited runway but needing to perform immediately at elite levels.
From my perspective, the December start created unique advantages and disadvantages. The positive was avoiding direct competition with the NFL during its peak season, potentially boosting television ratings. However, the scheduling density meant we'd likely see more strategic resting of star players, which always frustrates fans who buy tickets months in advance. The league scheduled the All-Star break for March 7th in Atlanta, though honestly I thought holding an All-Star game during pandemic concerns was questionable at best. The play-in tournament format introduced that season added another layer of complexity to the calendar, extending the competitive window for more teams deeper into the season.
Looking back, I believe the 2021 schedule represented the NBA at its most adaptable. The league managed to complete 98.6% of scheduled games despite COVID protocols, which is remarkable considering the circumstances. While I personally prefer the traditional October-June timeline, there's something to be said about the innovation forced upon the league by extraordinary conditions. The success of this condensed schedule actually influenced future scheduling decisions, proving that sometimes necessity truly is the mother of invention in professional sports.