Could the NBA Be Better Off with a Delayed Season?  Now this is
thinking outside the box.  The league has filed a
lawsuit against the player's association, and it's looking more
and more like the season will be delayed if not cancelled
entirely. The gut reaction is to think of this as entirely
negative. I mean, no basketball equals bad, right?  According to
Berry Tramel of, the NBA could actually be better off starting
later:  Why does the NBA season always start in late
October/early November? Why do the NBA Finals have to be played
in June?   Wouldn't the NBA be better served with a Dec. 1
tipoff and a July finals?   What Tramel suggests, thinking
outside the box and turning a disadvantage into an opportunity,
is that the NBA fill a sports-fan need in early July by starting
and ending the season later. There's nothing big holding the NBA
schedule back from starting later and ending later, and
television ratings surely could be improved by taking July as
it's own form of March Madness.   In Phoenix, it could