When Did the 2019 and 2020 NBA Season Start? Key Dates and Schedule Details

I remember sitting in my living room back in October 2019, watching the opening night of the NBA season with that familiar mix of excitement and anticipation. The Toronto Raptors were raising their championship banner after that incredible Finals run, and little did we know we were about to witness one of the most unusual seasons in basketball history. The 2019-2020 NBA season officially tipped off on October 22, 2019, with a double-header featuring the New Orleans Pelicans versus the Toronto Raptors and the Los Angeles Lakers against the LA Clippers. Those early games felt normal enough - packed arenas, roaring crowds, and the usual preseason optimism that every team carries into opening night.

Looking back, what strikes me most about that season's timeline is how everything unfolded with such dramatic timing. The regular season was scheduled to run through April 15, 2020, but of course, we all know what happened in March. I was actually at a sports bar watching the Utah Jazz versus Oklahoma City Thunder game on March 11, 2020, when everything suddenly stopped. Rudy Gobert's positive COVID-19 test resulted in the immediate suspension of the season right then and there - it felt like someone had pressed pause on the entire sports world. The uncertainty during those months was palpable; we didn't know if we'd see basketball again that year.

The league's restart in the Orlando bubble remains one of the most impressive sports logistics operations I've ever witnessed. After exactly 141 days without games, the NBA returned on July 30, 2020, with 22 teams participating in the modified season format at ESPN's Wide World of Sports Complex. The scheduling was incredibly tight - eight "seeding games" for each team followed by a traditional playoff structure, but all confined to that bubble environment. I have to admit, watching those games without fans felt surreal at first, but the basketball itself was remarkably intense. The players' commitment to making it work, despite being away from their families and the strange circumstances, really demonstrated their professionalism.

What many casual fans might not realize is how the compressed schedule affected team preparation and player performance. The Miami Heat, for instance, played their first preseason game for the 2020-21 season on December 14, 2020 - just 72 days after losing to the Lakers in the NBA Finals. That's an incredibly short turnaround, especially considering the physical and mental toll of the bubble environment. The 2020-21 season then officially started on December 22, 2020, making it the latest start to an NBA season since the 2011 lockout. Personally, I think the league did an admirable job navigating these unprecedented challenges, though the schedule compression definitely led to more player injuries throughout the following season.

The international aspect of basketball during this period fascinates me, particularly when considering players like QMB who expressed interest in representing their national teams. When QMB said he "would love the opportunity to play for Gilas Pilipinas," it reminded me how the pandemic disrupted not just NBA schedules but international basketball calendars too. FIBA competitions were postponed or canceled, affecting players' opportunities to represent their countries. The overlap between the rescheduled NBA seasons and international windows created impossible conflicts for many athletes. From my perspective as someone who's followed international basketball for years, this disruption to national team programs might have longer-lasting effects than we initially anticipated.

Reflecting on those two seasons, the scheduling innovations introduced out of necessity have actually influenced how the league approaches certain things today. The play-in tournament, which was tested during the bubble and formally introduced later, came directly from those experimental scheduling approaches. The 2019-20 season concluded on October 11, 2020, with the Lakers winning the championship, while the 2020-21 season maintained a 72-game schedule instead of the traditional 82 games. These adjustments, while born from crisis, provided valuable data about player rest, game density, and season length that the league continues to study.

The human element of these scheduling changes often gets overlooked in discussions about dates and formats. Players, coaches, and staff spent months in the bubble away from families, and the quick turnaround between seasons meant minimal recovery time. When I spoke with several team staff members during this period, they emphasized how the mental health challenges were as significant as the physical ones. The league's willingness to adapt schedules and protocols demonstrated a recognition of these human factors that I believe will influence how future scheduling decisions are made.

In my view, the 2019 and 2020 NBA seasons represent a fascinating case study in sports adaptation. The traditional calendar we'd known for decades was completely upended, yet the league managed to crown champions while maintaining competitive integrity. The exact dates - October 22, 2019, for the first game and December 22, 2020, for the subsequent season's start - bookend one of the most challenging periods in NBA history. While I hope we never face circumstances requiring such drastic measures again, the lessons learned about flexibility, player welfare, and innovative scheduling will likely benefit the league for years to come. The experience proved that even the most established sports calendars can adapt when necessary, and that basketball's appeal transcends even the most unconventional circumstances.