2020–21 NBA season


The 2020–21 NBA season was the 75th season of the National Basketball Association, though the 75th anniversary was not celebrated until the following season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the regular season was reduced to 72 games for each team, and began on December 22, 2020. The season started just 72 days after the completion of the 2020 NBA Finals, the shortest off-season in league history. The 2021 NBA All-Star Game was played on March 7, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, and was won by Team LeBron, 170–150. For the first time, the NBA staged a play-in tournament for teams ranked 7th through 10th in each conference from May 18 to 21. The playoffs then ran under the standard 16-team playoff format from May 22 to July 20, 2021. Due to COVID-19 cross-border restrictions imposed by the Canadian government, the Toronto Raptors played their 2020–21 home games at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.

Transactions

Retirement

  • On September 8, 2020, Marvin Williams announced his retirement from the NBA. Williams played for four teams during his 15-year NBA career.
  • On September 14, 2020, Leandro Barbosa announced his retirement from the NBA. Barbosa played 14 seasons in the NBA, winning one championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2015.
  • On October 24, 2020, Kevin Séraphin announced his retirement from the NBA. Séraphin played for three teams during his seven-year NBA career.
  • On November 16, 2020, Corey Brewer announced his retirement from the NBA. Brewer played for 12 years in the NBA for eight teams, winning one championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011.
  • On November 18, 2020, Dorell Wright announced his retirement from the NBA. Wright played for four teams during his 11-year NBA career, winning one championship with the Miami Heat in 2006.
  • On November 25, 2020, Aaron Brooks announced his retirement from the NBA. Brooks played for seven teams during his 13-year NBA career.
  • On November 30, 2020, Andrew Bogut announced his retirement from the NBA. Bogut played for five teams during his 14-year NBA career, winning one championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2015.
  • On November 30, 2020, Evan Turner announced his retirement from the NBA. Turner played 10 seasons for five teams during his time in the NBA.
  • On February 4, 2021, Lucas Nogueira announced his retirement from the NBA. Nogueira played for the Toronto Raptors for his entire four-year NBA career.
  • On March 1, 2021, Joakim Noah announced his retirement from the NBA. Noah played for four teams during his 13-year NBA career. He was the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year, and a two-time All-Star.
  • On March 31, 2021, Thabo Sefolosha announced his retirement from the NBA. Sefolosha played for five teams during his 14-year NBA career.
  • On April 15, 2021, LaMarcus Aldridge announced his retirement from the NBA as a result of heart issues and an irregular heartbeat after games. Aldridge played for three teams during his 15-year NBA career, and was a seven-time All-Star.
  • On May 19, 2021, Jeremy Lin announced his retirement from the NBA. Lin played for eight teams during his nine-year NBA career, winning one championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.

    Free agency

negotiations were scheduled to begin on October 18, 2020, but that date was delayed. On November 9, it was announced that free agency would begin on November 20 at 6 p.m. ET, with signings permitted starting at 12 p.m. ET on November 22.

Coaching changes

Off-season

The COVID-19 pandemic in North America, which pushed the conclusion of the previous 2019–20 season and playoffs into the fall, had delayed the start date of training camp to November 10, 2020. The preseason began on December 11 and ended on December 19.

Regular season

The start of the 2020–21 regular season was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NBA initially set a target date of December 1, 2020, to start the regular season. However, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver suggested further delaying the season until at least January because local health orders at each NBA city would limit fan attendance. The NBA receives 40 percent of its revenue from attendance, and thus delaying the season until it was safer to let more fans into the arenas would ease the financial pain. The NBA also contemplated organizing the schedule such that teams would have less travel, with back-to-back games in the same cities against the same opponent. National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts suggested that the season might eventually have to begin within a "bubble" environment, similar to the 2020 playoffs.
On October 13, the NBA delayed the targeted start date of the regular season from December 2020 to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 18, 2021. Later in October, Sports Illustrated reported that the NBA was targeting December 22, 2020, as the first day of the season. On November 5, 2020, the National Basketball Players Association tentatively approved a 72-game regular season that began on December 22, 2020. The season featured a condensed schedule so that the NBA Finals could conclude by July 22, allowing NBA players to participate in the 2020 Summer Olympics; the Olympics were postponed to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.
On November 17, the NBA announced that the 72-game regular season would run from December 22 through May 16. Each team would play three games against each opponent from its own conference and two games against each interconference opponent. The season would include a six-day All-Star break from March 5 to 10. While the All-Star Game was initially considered unlikely, the NBA announced in February that the 2021 NBA All-Star Game would be held in Atlanta on March 7, 2021. The schedule was released in two parts; the first half was released in early December, while the second half was released in the latter part of the first half.
It was the latest a season had started, and with the fewest games per team, since the 2011–12 season. That season, each team played only 66 games starting on Christmas Day; this was due to the aftermath of the 2011 NBA lockout.
;Eastern Conference
;Western Conference

By conference

Notes
  • z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
  • c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
  • y – Clinched division title
  • x – Clinched playoff spot
  • * – Division leader
  • pi - Clinched play-in spot

    Postponed games due to COVID-19

  • December 23: Oklahoma City vs. Houston – At least three Houston players tested positive or inconclusive, four other players were quarantined after contact tracing, and James Harden was unavailable after violating health and safety protocols.
  • January 10: Miami vs. Boston – Ongoing contact tracing with Miami caused Miami to not have the required minimum of eight players available for the game.
  • January 11: New Orleans vs. Dallas
  • January 12: Boston vs. Chicago
  • January 13:
  • * Orlando vs. Boston – Due to testing and contact tracing, Boston did not have the required minimum of eight players available for the game.
  • * Utah vs. Washington – Washington did not have the required minimum of eight players available for the game.
  • * Atlanta vs. Phoenix – Phoenix did not have the required minimum of eight players available.
  • January 15:
  • * Golden State vs. Phoenix – Phoenix continued to not have the required minimum of eight players available due to testing and contact tracing.
  • * Washington vs. Detroit – Washington continued to not have the required minimum of eight players available.
  • * Memphis vs. Minnesota – Minnesota did not have the required minimum of eight players.
  • January 16: Indiana vs. Phoenix – Phoenix still did not have enough available players.
  • January 17:
  • * Cleveland vs. Washington – Washington still did not have enough available players.
  • * Philadelphia vs. Oklahoma City – Philadelphia did not have enough available players due to ongoing contact tracing.
  • January 18: Cleveland vs. Washington – Washington continued to not have enough players.
  • January 20:
  • * Washington vs. Charlotte – Washington continued to not have enough players.
  • * Memphis vs. Portland – Memphis had an outbreak.
  • January 22:
  • * Washington vs. Milwaukee – Washington's sixth consecutive postponed game.
  • * Memphis vs. Portland – Memphis did not have enough available players due to ongoing contact tracing.
  • January 24: Sacramento vs. Memphis – Memphis did not have enough available players due to ongoing contact tracing.
  • January 25:
  • * Sacramento vs. Memphis – Memphis did not have enough available players due to ongoing contact tracing.
  • * San Antonio vs. New Orleans – Neither team had enough available players due to ongoing contact tracing.
  • January 27: Chicago vs. Memphis – Memphis did not have enough available players due to ongoing contact tracing.
  • February 1: Detroit vs. Denver – Detroit did not have enough players due to ongoing contact tracing.
  • February 7: Portland vs. Charlotte – This game was moved to the second half of the season, allowing the Washington vs. Charlotte game that was originally scheduled on January 20 to be rescheduled on this day instead.
  • February 16: San Antonio vs. Detroit – San Antonio did not have enough players due to ongoing contact tracing.
  • February 17:
  • * San Antonio vs. Cleveland – San Antonio continued to not have enough players due to ongoing contact tracing.
  • * Chicago vs. Charlotte – Charlotte did not have enough players due to ongoing contact tracing.
  • February 19: Detroit vs. Charlotte – Charlotte continued to be under COVID-19 protocol.
  • February 20: San Antonio vs. New York – San Antonio continued to be under COVID-19 protocol.
  • February 22: San Antonio vs. Indiana – San Antonio continued to be under COVID-19 protocol.
  • February 28: Chicago vs. Toronto – Toronto had positive COVID-19 test results.