Last week, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were officially postponed until 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. For USA Basketball, the postponement of the Games means
the men's and women's national teams will have to wait another 12 months to
defend the gold medals they earned in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The men's national
team is coming off a seventh-place finish at the FIBA World Cup in China last
year. Now it will have to wait to avenge that disappointment, although WNBA
Draft iron ons who'll be on the team when it attempts to do so is just one
of the many questions raised by last week's announcement. MORE: When will the
NBA return? Latest updates amid coronavirus suspension Could the Olympics and
the 2020-21 NBA season be in conflict? Possibly. After some initial uncertainty
about when the Tokyo Olympics would take place, the International Olympic
Committee announced Monday that the Games will begin on July 23, 2021 -- almost
exactly a year after they were scheduled to begin. This announcement was a bit
of a relief for USA Basketball, because had the Games moved to earlier in 2021
-- as was an option -- it could have created more challenges. USA Basketball
managing director Jerry Colangelo told ESPN he was hoping for the Olympics to
become moved a full year later. In a typical year, this would mean that the NBA
season WNBA
All-Star Game iron ons would not be in danger of running into the WNBA
Playoffs iron ons Olympic schedule. But given the uncertainty around when --
or if -- the 2019-20 NBA season can be completed, that uncertainty could affect
next season, too. If the 2020-21 season begins later and runs later, it's still
possible for an overlap with the Olympics to occur.