LeBron James facepalms at confirmed December 22 NBA start date, shortest off-season ever

After much debate, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) decided on a December 22 start date. Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the league needs to start the 2020-21 season as soon as they can. While the season will start in December, the 2019-20 season concluded last month. While teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat will have played in October, the Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors have been on a hiatus since March. 

Also read | NBA players representatives & owners approve December 22 start to NBA 72-game 2020-21 season

LeBron James facepalmed at the thought of an NBA December start?

In a recent Instagram story LeBron James shared, he attached a photo of a table stating the NBA will be having the shortest offseason with 71 days. Along with the photo, James also added a facepalming emoji. As per reports and teammate Danny Green, the four-time NBA champion was not in favour of the December start. Green even stated that James might miss the first month. 

Also read | LeBron James, others might skip start of the NBA 2020-21 season in case of December tip-off

Lakers guard Danny Green on the proposed Dec. 22 start to next season:

"If we start in December, I think most guys [are like] 'I'm not going to be there... to have that quick of a restart, I wouldn't expect [LeBron] to be there for the 1st month of the season." pic.twitter.com/NYqNxzNEmZ

— Logan Murdock (@loganmmurdock)

Danny Green, who was on The Ringer NBA Show, spoke about James and the NBA 2020-21 season. James, 35, will want to win another title with the Lakers. As they have recently won the 2020 NBA title, James and some other stars might not want to return to the court so soon. "I wouldn't expect to see him there for the first month of the season".

As per The Spun, an anonymous NBA star also accused the Lakers star of being selfish in this situation. "We already know due to a lot of reasons the cap is gonna drop and drop big," the anonymous star said, adding that people behave as if everyone has a max deal. 

He added that the "one-percenters" need to start thinking about the people at the bottom of the table now. The player clarified that he (or anyone) is not disrespecting James' game. “The problem is he is his biggest fan and he needs to start thinking about other people and not just himself and his image.”

Also read | NBA to start free agency "as soon as possible" before December 1 training camp: NBA and NBPA meeting

NBA 2020-21 season format and schedule details

The NBA and NBPA are expected to discuss moving up the start of free agency as early as possible to accommodate players joining new teams so close to a Dec. 1 start of training camps, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn)

Also read | LeBron James ACCUSED of only caring about himself and his 'image' regarding the NBA December start

(Image credits: AP, Lebron James Instagram)