The2019–20 NBA season was the 74th season of theNational Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 22, 2019, and originally was scheduled to end on April 15, 2020. The2020 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 16, at theUnited Center inChicago, and was won by Team LeBron, 157–155. The playoffs were originally scheduled to begin on April 18, and end with the NBA Finals in June.
On August 26, the season was suspended for a second time by awildcat strike, to protest theshooting of Jacob Blake and police brutality, during the playoffs.[6][7] Play resumed three days later on August 29. The Finals ended on October 11, 2020, 355 days after the October 22, 2019, regular season opening day, and 377 days after the first pre-season games on September 30, 2019. In theNBA Finals, theLos Angeles Lakers defeated theMiami Heat, 4 games to 2, to win their 17th NBA championship. This was the longest season in NBA history.[8]
On March 1, 2019,Channing Frye announced his retirement from the NBA. Frye played 13 seasons in the NBA, winning one championship with theCleveland Cavaliers in 2016.[9]
On April 9, 2019,Dirk Nowitzki announced his retirement from the NBA. Nowitzki played all his 21 seasons with theDallas Mavericks franchise, winning one championship and Finals MVP with the Mavericks in 2011, and also led them to a Finals appearance in2006.[10]
On June 10, 2019,Tony Parker announced his retirement from the NBA. He played 18 seasons in the NBA and was a four-time NBA champion and Finals MVP in 2007 with the San Antonio Spurs.[11]
On June 28, 2019,Darren Collison announced his retirement from the NBA. He played for five franchises during his 10-year NBA career.[12]
On August 29, 2019,Zaza Pachulia announced his retirement from the NBA. He played for six franchises during his 16-year career. He won two championships with theGolden State Warriors.[13]
On September 13, 2019,Shaun Livingston announced his retirement from the NBA. He played for ten franchises during his 15-year NBA career. He won three championships with the Golden State Warriors.[14]
On October 17, 2019,Luol Deng signed a ceremonial one-day contract with theChicago Bulls and officially retired as a Bull after playing 15 seasons. He was a two-time All-Star with the Bulls.[15]
On November 4, 2019,José Calderón announced his retirement from the NBA. He played for seven franchises during his 14-year NBA career.[16]
On December 28, 2019,Zach Randolph announced his retirement from the NBA, Randolph played for five franchises during his 17-year NBA career. He was a two-time All-Star with the Memphis Grizzlies.[17]
On February 16, 2020,Marcin Gortat announced his retirement from the NBA. He played for four franchises during his 12-year NBA career.[18]
On April 14, 2020,Trevor Booker announced his retirement from the NBA. He played for five franchises during his eight-year NBA career.[19]
On June 25, 2020,Vince Carter announced his retirement from the NBA. Carter played for eight franchises during a record 22-year career in the NBA; he is the only player to play in four different decades and was the last active player to have been drafted and played in the 1990s.[20]
Free agency negotiations began on June 30, 2019, at 6 p.m. ET, unlike July 1 from previous seasons.[21] Players officially signed after theJuly moratorium on July 6 at 12 p.m. ET.[22]
On February 19, 2020, the Cleveland Cavaliers namedJ. B. Bickerstaff the new head coach of the team after John Beilein resigned from the position.[37][38]
The 2019–20 schedule was released on August 12, 2019,[52][53] and the regular season began on October 22, 2019.
On March 11, 2020, the season wassuspended due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. The reformatted regular season, with 8 more games scheduled for 22 qualified teams going to theNBA Bubble in Orlando, was released on June 26. The regular season resumed play within the bubble on July 30.
Under the plan to restart the season in theNBA Bubble, a possible best-of-three play-in series for the final seed in each conference would be held if the ninth seed finished the regular season within four games of the eighth seed. The eighth seed would start with ade facto 1–0 lead, meaning that it would need just one win to advance, while the ninth seed must win two in a row.[59][60]
Because eighth-place Orlando (33–40) finished7+1⁄2 games ahead ninth-place Washington (25–47), the Magic automatically advanced to the main rounds of the playoffs as the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, with no play-in contests being necessary there.[61]
Because eighth-place Portland (35–39) only finished one-half games ahead of ninth-place Memphis (34–39), a play-in was required to determine the 8th seed in the Western Conference.[62]
On January 26, 2020, less than four weeks after commissioner emeritusDavid Stern died from a brain hemorrhage at age 77 onNew Year's Day,[63] recently retiredLos Angeles Lakers legendKobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughterGianna were tragically killed when theSikorsky S-76B helicopter that they were on board crashed into a hillside in the city ofCalabasas, California, around 30 mi (48 km) northwest ofDowntown Los Angeles, while en route fromJohn Wayne Airport toCamarillo Airport.[64][65] Bryant was 41, the accident left behind no survivors and alongside the Bryants were seven others: baseball coachJohn Altobelli, his wife Keri, their 14-year-old daughter Alyssa, Sarah Chester, her 13-year-old daughter Payton, basketball coach Christina Mauser, and the pilot, Ara Zobayan.[65] All occupants were killed on impact and on January 28, Bryant's identity was officially confirmed using fingerprints.[66] The following day, theLos Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner stated that the official cause of death for him and the eight others on the helicopter wasblunt force trauma.[67] A year later on February 9, 2021, the cause of the crash was officially determined to be Zobayan experiencingspatial disorientation due to heavy fog in the Los Angeles area that morning.[68][69]
Makeshift memorial atStaples Center on the day of the crash
There were eight NBA games that were scheduled to be played on the day of the accident, the first of which being between theHouston Rockets andDenver Nuggets, as Pepsi Center (nowBall Arena) was the first NBA arena to acknowledge Bryant's death with the Nuggets holding a brief tribute prior to tip-off and concluding the memorial with the message "Rest in Peace, Mamba". Due to that game tipping off just minutes after the news was revealed for the first time, that game went on as scheduled as Denver defeated Houston, 117–110.[70] There were reportedly conversations held among league authorities on whether or not to cancel any of the other games that day. However, each match ultimately went on as planned, partly due to many feeling that Bryant himself would have wanted the games to go on.[71][72] Of the remaining seven games played that day, beginning with theToronto Raptors atSan Antonio Spurs game, every matchup featured each side intentionally taking either an 8-second violation or a 24-second shot clock violation on their very first possession to start the game, serving as a homage to Bryant's number 8 jersey, which he wore from 1996 to 2006, and his number 24 jersey, which he donned from 2006 to 2016. These violation tributes were initially proposed by Spurs head coachGregg Popovich and the rest of the league subsequently followed suit throughout the rest of the Sunday and the following several days.[73] Notably,Kyrie Irving, who at the time was a member of theBrooklyn Nets, excused himself and leftMadison Square Garden prior to tip-off against theNew York Knicks, upon learning of Bryant's death. Irving, who considered Bryant to be a mentor, often trained with Kobe and was and continues to be very close with the Bryant family.[74]
"Kobe is a brother to me. From the time I was in high school watching him from afar, to getting in this league at 18 and watching him up close, all the battles that we had throughout my career, the one thing that we always shared was that determination to just want to win, to just want to be great. The fact that I'm here now means so much to me. I want to continue, along with my teammates, his legacy. Not only for this year, but for as long as we can play this game of basketball that we love, because that's whatKobe Bryant would want. So in the words of Kobe Bryant, 'Mamba out'. But in the words of us, 'not forgotten'. Live on, brother."
The previous evening on January 25,LeBron James passed Bryant for third place on theNBA's all-time scoring list during a road loss to thePhiladelphia 76ers in Bryant's hometown. James would eventually surpassKareem Abdul-Jabbar to stand alone as the NBA's all-time leading scorer three years later on February 7, 2023. TheLos Angeles Lakers learned of Bryant's death while flying back to Los Angeles from Philadelphia one day following their loss to the76ers, leaving everyone on board the flight in absolute shock and their January 28 meeting with the crosstown rivalLos Angeles Clippers would be postponed the following day.[76] This marked the first time an NBA game was postponed for any reason since nearly seven years earlier when the2013 Boston Marathon bombing led to the postponement of a Celtics game. The Lakers did not play a game in the wake of Bryant's death until January 31 when they hosted thePortland Trail Blazers on ESPN.[77] Prior to the commencement of the game, the Lakers conducted a 24-minute long, heavily detailed tribute to Bryant, his daughter and the seven other victims. This tribute began withUsher performing "Amazing Grace" and was capped off by a rendition ofThe Star-Spangled Banner byBoyz II Men before being concluded with a speech from James, who initially had a monologue prepared, but quickly tossed his index card onto the hardwood after saying "Laker Nation man, I would be selling y'all short if I read off this shit, so I'm going to go straight from the heart", as he proceeded to address a sorrowfulStaples Center crowd with an emotional, improvised oration, ending his speech with "...so in the words of Kobe Bryant: 'Mamba out', but in the words of us: 'not forgotten', live on brother".[78] Following the eulogy, each member of the Lakers' starting five would be introduced with Bryant's credentials.[79] Portland won 127–119, in what turned out to be the second most watched NBA broadcast ever in ESPN's history, averaging 4.41 million viewers.[80] The first ever head-to-head meeting betweenShaquille O'Neal andYao Ming in 2003 was the only one with more viewers.[81]
The NBA also renamed the NBA All Star Game MVP Award to theNBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player award, withKawhi Leonard of theLos Angeles Clippers being the inaugural recipient, who a few days after the crash revealed that he and Bryant shared the same pilot, Ara Zobayan, who also lost his life in the accident.[82] The2020 NBA All Star Game saw every player on Team LeBron wear the jersey number two for Gianna and every player on TeamGiannis wear the jersey number 24 for Kobe. The All Star Game also temporarily changed to an Echelon-style format starting in 2020 with the leading score at the end of the third quarter plus 24 (Bryant's jersey number from 2006 to 2016) acting as the target score. This format would be scrapped however in 2023, withthat year's game inSalt Lake City being the final one under this format. The postponed Lakers-Clippers game was originally planned to be made up on April 9, however due to thesuspension of the season on March 11, it was made up at the very beginning of the NBA restart on July 30 with the Lakers emerging victorious 103–101.[83]
On October 11, 2020, the Lakers defeated theMiami Heat in Game 6 of the2020 NBA Finals to capture their 17th championship in franchise history and would dedicate the victory and their season to Bryant.[88]
In his first year of eligibility, Bryant was named a finalist for theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, just less than three weeks after his death,[89] before being posthumously inducted in April 2020.[90] His formal induction was delayed until 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[91] In October 2021, Bryant was honored as one of the league's greatest players of all time by being named to theNBA 75th Anniversary Team.[92] During the2022 NBA All-Star Game inCleveland, he was one of fifteen members of that honorary team to be posthumously lionized during a halftime ceremony dedicated to that 75th Anniversary Team, with the mention of Bryant inducing one of, if not the loudest crowd reaction of the commemoration.[93]
On March 11, 2020, the game between theUtah Jazz andOklahoma City Thunder was abruptly postponed shortly before tipoff after it was discovered that the Jazz's playerRudy Gobert tested positive forCOVID-19.[94] That same evening, the game between theNew Orleans Pelicans andSacramento Kings was also postponed last minute once it was discovered that a referee for the game, Courtney Kirkland, had worked aUtah Jazz game just two days prior.[95] Kirkland later tested negative for COVID-19.[96] The NBA then suspended the remainder of the 2019–20 season "until further notice" following the completion of games already underway.[3] This was the first time a regular season had been interrupted since the2011 NBA lockout. The following day, Gobert's teammateDonovan Mitchell also tested positive.[97] On March 14,Detroit Pistons forwardChristian Wood became the third NBA player to test positive for the virus, and the first outside of the Jazz.[98] On March 17, fourBrooklyn Nets players, including superstarKevin Durant, tested positive for the virus.[99] On March 19, two players for theLos Angeles Lakers, as well asMarcus Smart of theBoston Celtics, tested positive for COVID-19. All players recovered and were cleared by local health officials.[100][101][102][103][104]
On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved a plan to restart the season on July 31 in Orlando. Under this plan, 13 Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams, all clubs within six games of a playoff spot, would play eight regular-season "seeding" games.Play-in games for the eighth seed in each conference would then be held if the ninth seed finishes the regular season within four games of the eighth seed.[4] This proposal was then approved by members of theNational Basketball Players Association on June 5.[5]
On August 26, 2020, theMilwaukee Bucks chose not to play in game 5 of the playoff series against theOrlando Magic to protest the policeshooting of Jacob Blake.[107] The NBA and theNational Basketball Players Association announced that, in light of the Milwaukee Bucks striking for their game, the following games of the day would be postponed.[108] TheToronto Raptors had also discussed striking for their second-round playoff series with theBoston Celtics in frustration with a lack of social or legislative change after themurder of George Floyd and as a result of Blake's shooting before the Bucks' strike a few days later.[109]
On June 16, 2020, the NBA released a medical protocol to be used during the season restart in theNBA Bubble at Walt Disney World to ensure the health and safety of players, coaches, officials, and staff.[110][111] This included regular testing forCOVID-19 prior to and throughout the season restart, wearing a face covering or mask, andsocial distancing to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 from occurring. Players and coaches who were deemed "high-risk individuals" by their team, or players who had already suffered season-ending injuries prior to season suspension, were not permitted to play and also did not lose any salary. Any player who was medically cleared could also decline to participate, but as a result lost their corresponding paychecks.[112]
Phase 1 of the plan ran from June 16 to 22, consisting of players traveling back to the home cities of their respective teams. In Phase 2 from June 23 to 30,COVID-19 tests began being administered to players every other day. In Phase 3 from July 1 to 11, mandatory individual workouts were conducted at team facilities, but group workouts were prohibited.[110]
Phase 4 ran from July 7 to 21, consisting of the teams traveling to Disney World and conducting practices. Any player who tested positive in the previous phases could not travel until he was medically cleared to do so. Once teams arrive in Orlando, players and staff were isolated in their rooms, requiring to pass twopolymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests 24 hours apart before being let out of this quarantine.[110] They were still regularly tested for COVID-19 afterwards. A player who tested positive would be isolated and re-tested in case of a false positive; if COVID-19 was definitely confirmed, he would be quarantined for at least 14 days to recover.[112]
Players and staff were not permitted into another's room, nor were they be able to socialize with players on other teams staying at a different hotel building. They had access to food and recreational activities within their hotel's bubble, but they had to wear masks indoors except when eating. Anybody who left the bubble without prior approval had to be quarantined for at least 10 days.[112]
During Phase 5 from July 22 to 29, teams played three scrimmages against the other teams staying at the same hotel. During Phase 6, when the regular-season seeding games and playoffs were under way and teams began to be eliminated from contention, players and staff on those clubs had to pass one final COVID-19 test before they could leave Disney World.[112]
The NBA also set up an anonymous hotline for players to report protocol violations while in the bubble.[113][114]
While the statistics from the seeding games were counted towards players' regular season totals, the NBA ruled that its end-of-season awards were only based on games through March 11 and excluded the seeding games.[115] Finalist for the major awards were announced during the seeding games.[116] Due to the pandemic, theNBA Awards show held the prior three years was cancelled, and award winners were instead announced onTNT during their coverage of the 2020 playoffs.[117][118]
This was the fourth year of the current nine-year contracts withABC,ESPN,TNT andNBA TV.[173]
Under an agreement with theU.S. Department of Justice regardingDisney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, theFox Sports Regional Networks were required to be sold off to third parties by June 18, 2019.[174] Fox also invoked a clause to giveYankee Global Enterprises the rights to buy their stake back in theYES Network, which aired the local broadcasts to the NBA's Brooklyn Nets.[175] Including YES, the Fox Sports Regional Networks held the local TV rights to a combined total of 44 NHL, NBA, and MLB teams.[176] On March 8, YES was sold to a consortium including Yankee Global Enterprises,Amazon, andSinclair Broadcast Group for $3.5 billion.[177] Then on May 3, Sinclair andEntertainment Studios agreed to purchase the rest of the Fox Sports Regional Networks.[178] The networks continued to temporarily use the Fox Sports name under a transitional license agreement while Sinclair explored re-branding options.[179]
On October 24, 2019,Vince Carter of theAtlanta Hawks became the first player in NBA history to play 22 seasons. Carter officially checked in the game at 6:52 in the first quarter against theDetroit Pistons.[182]
On October 29, 2019,Anthony Davis set the record for most free throws made (18) in a quarter[183]
On November 3, 2019,Luka Dončić of theDallas Mavericks became the youngest player to record consecutive 25-point triple-doubles.[184]
On November 19, 2019,LeBron James of theLos Angeles Lakers became the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double against all 30 NBA teams.[185]
On November 27, 2019, LeBron James became the fourth player in NBA history to reach 33,000 career points.[186]
On December 3, 2019, James Harden set a record for the most free throws made (24) in a game with no misses[187][188]
On December 8, 2019, Luka Dončić surpassed the record for the most consecutive games with at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976.Michael Jordan previously held the record, recording 18 consecutive games with at least 20–5–5 between March 13, 1989, and April 4, 1989.[189]
On December 10, 2019, Vince Carter became the fifth player in NBA history to play at least 1,500 games.[190]
On December 14, 2019,James Harden became the first player to record back-to-back 50-point games with more than 10 three-pointers[191]
On December 29, 2019, LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to record at least 30,000 points, 9,000 rebounds and 9,000 assists.[193]
On January 1, 2020, NBA Commissioner EmeritusDavid Stern died at the age of 77, due to abrain hemorrhage sustained a few weeks prior.[63] For the remainder of the season, all thirty teams wore a black stripe of fabric on the left side of their jerseys in memory of Stern.[194]
On January 4, 2020, Vince Carter became the only player in NBA history to have played in four differentdecades.[195]
On January 22, 2020, Vince Carter moved pastAlex English for 19th on the NBA all-time scoring list.[199]
On January 25, 2020, LeBron James moved past Kobe Bryant for 3rd on the NBA all-time scoring list.[200]
On January 26, 2020, a day after being passed by LeBron James for 3rd on the NBA's all-time scoring list,Kobe Bryant and his daughter Giannadied in a helicopter crash inCalabasas, California.[201] During the first minute of each game for this day (outside of the first matchup of the day between theDenver Nuggets andHouston Rockets, which tipped off just minutes after news of the tragedy had broken), players paid tribute by dribbling through the 24-second shot clock violation and the 8-second backcourt violation, referencing the two numbers Bryant wore during his career.[202] In addition to this, the2020 NBA All-Star Game was played with jersey numbers 24 and 2, the latter to pay tribute to Gianna.[203][204]
On January 27, the NBA announced that they would postpone the January 28 game between theLos Angeles Lakers andLos Angeles Clippers atStaples Center out of respect to Bryant, marking the first time an NBA game was postponed for any reason since the2013 Boston Marathon bombing led to the postponement of a Celtics game.[205] The game was later originally rescheduled for April 9,[206] but was eventually played as the first game of the NBA restart on July 30 following the suspension of play due to thecoronavirus pandemic.[207]
On January 29, 2020, Carmelo Anthony moved pastKevin Garnett for 17th on the NBA all-time scoring list.
On January 31, 2020, Vince Carter moved up to third place in the NBA all-time games played list with 1,523 passingDirk Nowitzki in the process.[208]
On March 11, 2020, the leaguesuspended the season indefinitely afterUtah JazzcenterRudy Gobert tested positive forCOVID-19, just hours after theWHO declared the disease apandemic on the same day. Gobert's positive test causes a massive ripple effect, causing a shutdown of the vast majority of the sports world within five days.[3] Vince Carter played in what became his final game, hitting a three-pointer as his final shot in a 136–131 overtime loss to the New York Knicks.[212]
On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved 29–1 (with the lone dissenter being thePortland Trail Blazers) resuming the 2019–20 season in Orlando, Florida at Walt Disney World, after prior consideration ofLas Vegas andHouston as potential spots.[213]
On June 16, 2020, the NBA released a medical protocol to be used during the season restart in the bubble to ensure the health and safety of players, coaches, officials, and staff.[214][215]
On June 25, 2020, Vince Carter officially announced his retirement after 22 seasons and four separate decades in the NBA. He is the only player to accomplish both these feats.[212]
On July 30, 2020, the regular season resumed in theNBA bubble.[216]
On August 8, 2020, Luka Dončić recorded his 17thtriple-double of the season, clinching his spot as the youngest player to ever lead the NBA in triple-doubles in a season.[217]
On August 10, 2020, Carmelo Anthony moved pastJohn Havlicek andPaul Pierce, respectively, for 16th and 15th on the NBA all-time scoring list.
On August 13, 2020, theSan Antonio Spurs were eliminated from playoff contention, ending an NBA record-tying 22-year streak.[218]
On August 17, 2020,Donovan Mitchell scored 57 points, the third highest in NBA single-game playoff history, against theDenver Nuggets in game 1 of their playoff series.[219]
On August 23, 2020, Luka Dončić's performance in game 4 of theDallas Mavericks playoff series against theLos Angeles Clippers, including 43 points, 17 rebounds, 13 assists, and a game-winning buzzer beater, broke a number of records. He became the youngest player to hit a game-winning buzzer beater in the playoffs, one of only three players to make 40-plus points, 15-plus rebounds, and 10-plus assists in a playoff game, one of only five players to make 40-plus points including a buzzer beater in a playoff game, first Dallas Maverick to have a triple-double in the playoffs, among others.[220][221]
On August 23, 2020, Donovan Mitchell scored 51 points andJamal Murray scored 50 points in a playoff game between theUtah Jazz and theDenver Nuggets, the first time in NBA history that two players scored 50 points in a playoff game.
On September 15, 2020, theDenver Nuggets defeated theLos Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference semifinals after initially trailing in the series 3–1. This marked the first time that a team overcame consecutive 3–1 series deficits in a single playoff run, as the Nuggets had previously overcome a 3–1 series deficit to win their first round series against theUtah Jazz.[223]
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