NBA Releases Key Dates For 2021-22 Season

Since March of 2020, the NBA timeline has been a rollercoaster ride. From taking months off due to the pandemic and then finishing the season over the summer in the bubble, many wondered if the NBA will ever go back to its regular schedule.

Because of the pause in last season, the start of this season had to be delayed. The league created a condensed schedule in the hope of getting back to normal for the 2021-2022 season. It appears they have achieved their goal.

Shams Charania of The Athletic has reported the key dates for next season. Including when the season will begin to when a potential game 7 of the finals. He also reported that all 30 NBA teams received these key dates today.

Sources: Key dates for the 2021-22 NBA season:

Sept. 28: Training camp starts
Oct. 19: Regular season starts
April 16: Playoffs start
June 2: Finals Game 1
June 19: Finals Game 7
June 23: 2022 NBA Draft
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 10, 2021

It took some time to get here, but the NBA has reached normality. Starting next season, they will be back on their usual October-June schedule.

The only downfall of this is that the last teams standing will be dealing with another shortened offseason. With the 2021 NBA finals going into July, it leaves a little less than three months to gear up for next season.

Injuries plagued the league this season and might rear its ugly head again next season. Thankfully, this will be the last time players will be dealing with this quick ramp-up to the regular season.

What seemed like an endless uphill battle is finally reaching its end. After tireless work to get things back to the way they were, the NBA has achieved its goal. For the first time in a long time, the NBA is starting to look like its normal self again.

Kevin McCormick covers the Philadelphia 76ers for South Jersey's 97.3 ESPN and Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @KevinMcCNBA.