NBA Rumors: 76ers' 2020-2021 Season Won't Begin Until After Christmas

Typically, Christmas time is when the NBA really gets started, as it nearly marks halfway through the year with a slate of primetime matchups all day. This year, though, the Christmas games might not happen as the Philadelphia 76ers' season isn't expected even to be tipped off by then.

According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, the NBA's league office informed the Board of Governors on Thursday that the 2020-2021 season won't begin earlier than Christmas Day this year.

Usually, the NBA begins a new season in October every year, but the current season won't even conclude until then. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which struck the league back in March of 2020, the league's new scheduling has been nothing typical.

For quite some time, there's been hope the NBA could fire up the 2020 offseason in October just days after the NBA Finals. With the draft and free agency set for mid-October, the NBA aimed for the new season to begin in early December.

Unfortunately, at this point, everything is guaranteed to get pushed back. Instead of drafting in October, the NBA has informed teams that the plan will be to hopefully draft on November 18.

Meanwhile, the December 1 start date of the next season will inevitably be pushed back past December 25 -- and beginning the following season by January is far from a guarantee as well. According to The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor, nobody should be "shocked" if the NBA doesn't begin next season until February or even March, at the latest.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_