NBA releases schedule for 2021-22 season, keeps play-in tournament

LeBron James (R) of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots in the NBA Western Conference play-in tournament game against the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California,U.S., May 19, 2021. /CFP

The NBA will continue to organize play-in tournaments in the 2021-2022 regular season to decide playoff qualifications for the No. 7 to No. 10 teams in the Eastern and Western Conference, according to the schedule plan approved on Tuesday.

Training camps will start from September 28, before the regular season begins on October 19 and ends on April 10, 2022. After that, the play-in tournament will take place between April 12 and 15, 2022, for four teams to compete for two postseason spots in each of the two conferences.

The extra games format was criticized by some players, including LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers. Still, the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had previously said that he expected play-in to be part of the new season on multiple occasions.

The 2022 NBA playoffs will begin on April 16, 2022, and the Finals are scheduled to take place from June 2, 2022, the traditional date before COVID-19 hit the world. If the series goes to Game 7, it should be over on June 19, 2022, four days before the 2022 NBA Draft on June 23, 2022.

Jayson Tatum (R) of the Boston Celtics posts up against Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards in the NBA Eastern Conference play-in tournamen game at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., May 18, 2021. /CFP

The past two NBA seasons have changed their regular schedule and format due to COVID-19, leading to many problems, including many unexpected injuries.

But before the 2021-22 season starts, what draws the most attention from fans about the NBA is the coming 2021 NBA Draft on Thursday and opening the free agency market on August 2.

The talent pool for this year's draft has been considered much deeper than that of previous years. Cade Cunningham from Oklahoma State University was seen by many for the unquestionable No. 1 selection, but the decision with the second overall pick can be extremely difficult to make among choices like Jalen Green, Evan Mobley, Jalen Suggs and others.

Meanwhile, selecting promising young blood is not the only option teams with lottery draft picks have. Some of them prefer to trade such future assets for immediate game-changers. Considering there will be multiple first-class back-court players entering free agency soon – Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, Chris Paul – competitions for any of them can be brutal.