2020 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game, Game
At the end of the third quarter, the cumulative score was posted on the scoreboard, and the entire period was played under The Basketball Tournament's Elam Ending, a rule recommended by players' union president Chris Paul, who coached in the aforementioned tournament in 2019, for the entire quarter. The NBA All-Star Game's Elam Ending used a target score of 24 points more than the leading team's or both teams' score in honor of Kobe Bryant, who died on January 26, 2020. The winning team won $200,000 for their charity. If one team had won each of the first three quarters and reached the target score first, $500,000 would have been donated to the winning team's charity and $100,000 would have been donated to the losing team's charity.


2020 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game, Game
To further honor Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who died with him in the Calabasas helicopter crash, players on Team LeBron wore #2 (Gianna's basketball number), while players on Team Giannis wore #24 (Bryant's number from 2006 to 2016).


2020 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game, Game
Team LeBron won the 1st quarter, and Team Giannis won the 2nd quarter, and the 3rd quarter was tied, so the $100,000 was carried over to the 4th quarter, for a total of $300,000 on the line in the final quarter. Since Team Giannis led the cumulative score 133–124, in accordance with the rules of the Elam Ending, the teams played to a target score of 157 but without a game clock for the 4th quarter.


2020 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game, Game
Anthony Davis walked-off the final point for Team LeBron on the second of two free throws to win the game, 157–155, in a back-and-forth 4th quarter which featured multiple defensive plays. The Elam Ending format was received well by fans and players alike.


2020 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game, Game
Kawhi Leonard of Team LeBron was awarded the NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player award.


2020 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, NBA on TNT American Express Road Show
The 2020 NBA All Star Weekend began on Thursday, February 13, 2020 with the annual NBA on TNT American Express Road Show, along with a live broadcast of Inside the NBA that took place in Chicago, Illinois and was hosted by Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal with live special performances by Anderson .Paak (Thursday) and Maroon 5 (Saturday).


2020 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, Celebrity Game
The 2020 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game presented by Ruffles was played on Friday, February 14, 2020, at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. The coaches for the 2020 game were First Take analyst Stephen A. Smith and Pardon the Interruption co-host Michael Wilbon. Team Wilbon defeated Team Stephen A. 62–47 and Common took home the MVP award with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.


2020 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, Celebrity Game
Nate Robinson joined Team Stephen A. for the second half, while Horace Grant joined Team Wilbon. Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was a late addition to Team Wilbon.


2020 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, Rising Stars Challenge
Wendell Carter Jr. was unable to participate due to a right ankle injury. Zion Williamson was selected as Wendell Carter Jr.'s replacement. Tyler Herro was unable to participate due to a sore right ankle. Collin Sexton was selected as Tyler Herro's replacement. Deandre Ayton was unable to participate due to a sore left ankle. Nicolò Melli was selected as Deandre Ayton's replacement.


2020 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, Skills Challenge
Derrick Rose was unable to participate due to an adductor strain. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was selected as Derrick Rose's replacement.


2020 NBA Bubble
The 2020 NBA Bubble, also referred to as the Disney Bubble or the Orlando Bubble, was the isolation zone at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, that was created by the National Basketball Association (NBA) to protect its players from the COVID-19 pandemic during the final eight games of the 2019–20 regular season and throughout the 2020 NBA playoffs. Twenty-two of the thirty NBA teams were invited to participate, with games being held behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and the teams staying at Disney World hotels.


2020 NBA Bubble
The bubble was a $190 million investment by the NBA to protect its 2019–20 season, which was initially suspended by the pandemic on March 11, 2020. The bubble recouped an estimated $1.5 billion in revenue. In June, the NBA approved the plan to resume the season at Disney World, inviting the 22 teams that were within six games of a playoff spot when the season was suspended. Although initially receiving a mixed reaction from players and coaches, the teams worked together to use the bubble as a platform for the Black Lives Matter movement.


2020 NBA Bubble
After playing three exhibition scrimmages inside the bubble in late July, the invited teams played eight additional regular season games to determine playoff seeding. The playoffs began on August 17, and the NBA Finals began on September 30. The season ended on October 11 when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat in six games. From the start of the resumed 2019–20 season until the end of the NBA Finals, the NBA ended with no recorded cases of COVID-19 for the teams participating in the bubble.


2020 NBA Bubble
The NBA Bubble in some form or another has been made into a contigency plan for the NBA in future pandemics or major disease outbreaks.


2020 NBA Bubble, Suspension of the season
On March 11, 2020, the NBA announced the suspension of the 2019–20 season following Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19 hours before the Jazz road game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved 29–1 (with the lone dissenter being the Portland Trail Blazers) resuming the 2019–20 season in Orlando, Florida at Walt Disney World, after prior consideration of Las Vegas and Houston as potential spots. On June 5, the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) approved negotiations with the NBA.


2020 NBA Bubble, Resumption of the season
On June 17, 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. This protocol included regular testing for COVID-19 prior to and throughout the season restart, wearing a face covering or mask, and physical distancing to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 from occurring. Also, players and coaches deemed "high-risk individuals" by their team, or players who had already suffered season-ending injuries prior to season suspension, would not be permitted to play and would also not lose any salary. Any player medically cleared could also decline to participate but would lose their corresponding paychecks.


2020 NBA Bubble, Resumption of the season
The protocol outlined six phases to ensure a smooth transition into the bubble and a successful end to the season:


2020 NBA Bubble, Resumption of the season
With fans not being permitted to attend in person, the NBA installed 17-foot (5.2 m) screens on the courts to display multimedia content and a mosaic of virtual spectators powered by Microsoft Teams.


2020 NBA Bubble, Resumption of the season
On July 30, the season resumed as planned, with the Utah Jazz defeating the New Orleans Pelicans and the Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Los Angeles Clippers. The games were played across three Disney venues at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex: the HP Field House, the Visa Athletic Center and The AdventHealth Arena.


2020 NBA Bubble, Resumption of the season
The NBA launched an advertising campaign, "It's a Whole New Game", to promote the resumption.


2020 NBA Bubble, Proposal for a second bubble
A second bubble to be hosted in Chicago was briefly considered by the NBA for the eight teams not invited to the bubble so they would also have some sort of competitive play instead of merely sitting out the entire time from March 2020 to the start of the 2020–21 season in December, referred to as the "Delete Eight", but ultimately the plan fell through. Although it was reported that the eight teams would have an opportunity to join the NBA Bubble in Orlando following the playoffs, this also did not work out.


2020 NBA Bubble, Proposal for a second bubble
On August 20, 2020, the NBA and NBPA announced an agreement where the eight teams could have voluntary group workouts at their respective practice facilities from September 4 to October 10.


2020 NBA Bubble, Rules
The NBA produced a rule book of more than 100 pages to protect its players in an attempt to salvage the remainder of the season. Rules included isolation periods, testing requirements, and the potential for financial penalties. Any players subject to isolation periods when a game was scheduled had to forego participating in the game to complete their isolation. The NBA had a hotline allowing people to anonymously report players who broke the rules of the bubble, which players referred to as the "snitch hotline". Players always had to wear masks, with eating and exercise being exceptions.


2020 NBA Bubble, Rules
Additionally, staff working at these facilities had to wear masks and gloves at all times, though the staff were not required to quarantine. Players were not required to join the bubble, and at least ten players declined to join their teams. Nobody was allowed to have guests, and all food was prepared within the bubble. Only four players were cited for violating the rules of the bubble: Lou Williams, Richaun Holmes, Bruno Caboclo, and Danuel House.


2020 NBA Bubble, Rules
Players were allowed to use many of the Disney facilities, such as pools, golf courses, bicycles, gaming areas, barbers, bowling, ping pong, and spa services. RFID-enabled MagicBands, which are normally used at Walt Disney World for hotel keys and other admissions and personalization features at theme park attractions, were utilized as a check-in and contact tracing mechanism, and could be used to restrict access to practice facilities and courts if one had not completed a daily health monitoring review.


2020 NBA Bubble, Impact on media production
National broadcaster ESPN, in partnership with the NBA and the league's other broadcaster Turner, set up a 100-plus camera infrastructure surrounding the three arenas being used at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The national broadcasts also had additional cameras to provide new angles, including a "rail cam" at the side of the court, and free-throw line cameras. ESPN and Turner production staff and some on-air hosts were present inside the "bubble". ESPN and Turner had many announcers, play-by-play, color, and other commentators physically present to call bubble games. For regional broadcasters, live feeds were fed to their respective studio for calling and broadcasting.


2020 NBA Bubble, Impact on media production
While most ESPN and Turner announcers were in the bubble, 79-year-old Turner play-by-play commentator Marv Albert and 87-year-old ESPN color commentator Hubie Brown declined to participate citing their advanced ages as potential risks for severe illness from COVID-19.


2020 NBA Bubble, Effectiveness
The bubble proved to be extremely effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19. Leading up to the resumption of play on July 30, there were two consecutive weeks of zero players testing positive for COVID-19.


2020 NBA Bubble, Effectiveness
This streak was continued after play resumed, with five consecutive weeks of zero players testing positive for COVID-19 as of August 19. Starting on August 31, players were allowed to pay for one guest room. Family or non family members with proof of a longstanding relationship with the player could stay in the room and quarantine upon arrival for one week.


2020 NBA Bubble, Effectiveness
On October 11, the season concluded with zero cases of COVID-19 in the bubble for its entire duration.


2020 NBA Bubble, Reaction
The decision by the NBA to enact bubble play had initially received mixed reaction from its players and coaches, with some players referring to it as a prison sentence. Other players complained about the food, with Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid showing his meal and said that he was "definitely losing 50 lbs", as a reference to fan gripe regarding his weight affecting his on-court performance. After arriving in the bubble, Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon said it felt "strange", while Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley Jr. described the feeling as "surreal". Near the end of the regular season, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated that the bubble was "better than what we had envisioned".


2020 NBA Bubble, Reaction
Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler used the opportunity to start a coffee shop in the bubble, where he charged $20 per cup. Butler was also one of few players to make the decision not to allow his family to visit in the bubble, stating that his time in the bubble was a "business trip".


2020 NBA Bubble, Reaction
Several players, including Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George, also commented on how being in the bubble affected their mental health.


2020 NBA Bubble, Venues and bases
In addition to the three venues in the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which were hosting games, three official Disney resorts were chosen to host the teams, with the teams being arranged based on their respective records prior to entering the bubble. Although teams competed in the same campus, bubble games maintained the home and away structure of a traditional NBA season. Game feeds had been augmented in real-time to insert graphics on the court's floor such as the "home" team's logo, their real venue's name, and advertising, similar to National Football League (NFL) broadcast's 1st & Ten line.


2020 NBA Bubble, Teams/results
There were 22 teams that were invited to the bubble: the 16 teams in playoff position and the six teams within six games of playoff position, with their seeding and overall records.


2020 NBA Bubble, Teams/results, Play-In, Western Conference: (8) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (9) Memphis Grizzlies
As the eighth seed, Portland had to win one game, while Memphis had to win two.


2020 NBA Bubble, Seeding Games awards
Awards for play during the seeding games were also announced, with Damian Lillard named Player of the Seeding Games after averaging 37.6 points per game.


2020 NBA Bubble, Activism
With the George Floyd protests ongoing, the NBA, the NBPA, and the teams worked together to use the bubble as a platform for the Black Lives Matter movement. During warmups and while sitting on the bench, players wore T-shirts with large print and the text "Black Lives Matter". This phrase was also painted in large font on all official basketball courts being used for gameplay. Additionally, players were allowed the option to replace the names on the backs of their jerseys with a meaningful statement of their choice in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.


2020 NBA Bubble, Activism
The national anthem was pre-recorded in advance exclusively by African American artists. Jonathan Isaac was the first player to stand during the national anthem and to elect not to wear a Black Lives Matter warm-up shirt, citing religious reasons for his decision. Other players respected his decision, even if they disagreed with him. Miami Heat player Meyers Leonard also chose to stand with his hand over his heart. His reasoning came down to his support for the military.


2020 NBA Bubble, Activism
San Antonio Spurs coaches Gregg Popovich, an outspoken supporter of Black Lives Matter, and Becky Hammon also chose to stand for their own reasons. Sean Roberts, a Republican member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, threatened to pull tax breaks for the Oklahoma City Thunder if they kneeled. All of the players and coaches from both the Thunder and the opposing Utah Jazz kneeled anyway.


2020 NBA Bubble, Activism
In response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted Game 5 of their series against the Orlando Magic on August 26. Later that day, the NBA announced that in light of the Bucks' decision, all games for the day were postponed. The NBPA held a meeting to address the situation regarding the boycott, where the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers voted not to play the remainder of the season. Every other team, however, voted to continue playing.


2020 NBA Bubble, Activism
On August 27, the players agreed to continue the playoffs, but all games scheduled for that night were postponed as well. The playoffs were resumed on August 29, after the NBA and NBPA agreed on three commitments for social justice reform efforts, including opening up arenas as voting centers in the upcoming election.


2020 NBA Bubble, Legacy
With the success of the 2020 NBA Bubble, the NBA decided to implement the same measures utilized there into the 2020–21 NBA G League season, dubbed as the "2021 G League Bubble" by media outlets like ESPN.


2020 NBA Bubble, Legacy
In the G League Bubble setting, it was agreed that only 17 out of the 28 NBA G League's teams that were officially eligible for this season, as well as the newly created NBA G League Ignite (a farm team that was not initially planned to compete in the playoffs this season due to their status as a developmental team before later being allowed in for this season's playoffs due to the new format set up for their bubble setting), would compete throughout February and March 2021 in a truncated season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, similar to the NBA Bubble.


2020 NBA Bubble, Legacy
However, their regular season gave each team 15 total games between February 10 and March 6, with no divisional or conference alignments at all during this season, before the eight best regular season teams competed in a single-elimination playoff from March 8 until the championship game on March 11. The single elimination tournament ended with the #6 seed Lakeland Magic (affiliate team of the Orlando Magic) winning the G League Championship by a final score of 97–78 over the #4 seed Delaware Blue Coats (affiliate team of the Philadelphia 76ers). Devin Cannady was given the NBA G League Finals Most Valuable Player Award after the championship game concluded that day.


2020 NBA Bubble, Legacy
For the 2020–21 NBA season, the NBA hoped to prevent spread of the COVID-19 virus by having their teams limit the number of fans allowed to enter their stadiums to watch their games live, with a majority of them deciding to play behind closed doors as an extra precaution. However, throughout January 2021, the number of games suspended for the 2020–21 season dramatically increased from only one game in 2020 to 22 by the end of January.


2020 NBA Bubble, Legacy
With the NBA creating more rules and regulations to combat even greater spread of the virus during that time, players and coaches also supported looking into a similar setting to their 2020 Bubble into the second half of their season in 2021. These discussions for a similar setting were kept in mind for that season in the event the rate of infection worsened later on in the season, even with greater COVID-19 vaccine usage for the general population in mind. However, the NBA encouraged players, coaches, and other team personnel to start getting their vaccine shots against the virus during the second half of the season.


2020 NBA Bubble, Legacy
The NBA bubble became a contigency plan in the league in the event for future pandemic or other major disease outbreaks.


2020 NBA Bubble, Legacy
On March 24, HBO and Oh Dip!!! Productions released a documentary on HBO Max called The Day Sports Stood Still. Around the start of the 2019–20 NBA season suspension, Chris Paul called movie producer Brian Grazer about the season's suspension, alongside every other major sports league that was set to play around this time, making for an interesting documentary.


2020 NBA Bubble, Legacy
In addition to covering the season's suspension period and how it affected some of the players that had been involved with the COVID-19 pandemic earlier on, it also covered how the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, the shooting of Breonna Taylor, and the killing of George Floyd affected the NBA's planning for the 2020 NBA Bubble, the potential risks it could have held for the players and everyone else involved there, and how the shooting of Jacob Blake continued affecting the results of the bubble during the 2020 NBA Playoffs.


2020 NBA Finals
The 2020 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2019–20 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat, 4–2, winning their first NBA championship in ten years. It was the franchise's 17th title, tying the Boston Celtics for the most in league history. The Lakers' LeBron James was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the fourth time in his career.


2020 NBA Finals
He became the first player in league history to be named Finals MVP with three different franchises (two with the Heat, one with the Cleveland Cavaliers and one with the Lakers) and along with teammate Danny Green, jointly the third players to win the NBA Finals with three different teams. Lakers president Jeanie Buss became the first female controlling owner to guide her team to an NBA title.


2020 NBA Finals
The Lakers were the No. 1 seed in the West, while the Heat were No. 5 in the East, becoming the third-lowest seed to advance to the Finals. This was the first NBA Finals matchup between the two teams, and the first time that Finals participants had both missed the playoffs in the previous season.


2020 NBA Finals
James had previously played with Miami under Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, winning back-to-back NBA titles in 2012 and 2013 in four consecutive Finals appearances from 2011 to 2014, while Heat president Pat Riley was head coach of the "Showtime"-era Lakers from 1981 to 1990, leading them to four NBA titles in seven Finals appearances. For the first time in six seasons, the Golden State Warriors were not in the Finals.


2020 NBA Finals
The Finals were originally scheduled for June, but the season was suspended in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NBA and its players later approved a plan to restart the season in late July, setting up the NBA Bubble at Walt Disney World to protect teams from the virus. The games were played in the Bubble behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Bay Lake, Florida, with the Finals being played from September 30 through October 11. The 2020 finals was the latest to begin (beating the 1999 edition which began on June 16) and the first one played in September and October.


2020 NBA Finals, Background, Season suspension and restart
On March 11, 2020, the NBA announced the suspension of the 2019–20 season following a report that Utah Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 just hours before the Jazz road game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved 29–1 (the Portland Trail Blazers were the lone dissenter) resuming the 2019–20 season at Walt Disney World. The National Basketball Players Association approved the plan a day later.


2020 NBA Finals, Background, Season suspension and restart
Under the plan, thirteen Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams, which include all clubs within six games of a playoff spot, played eight regular-season "seeding" games. A possible play-in tournament for the eighth seed in each conference would then be held if the ninth seed finished the regular season within four games of the eighth seed (this play-in tournament was used in the Western conference only). The 2020 NBA playoffs were then played as a conventional post-season tournament.


2020 NBA Finals, Background, Miami Heat
During the off-season, the Heat agreed to a four-way trade with the Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Philadelphia 76ers to acquire All-Star small forward Jimmy Butler from the 76ers.


2020 NBA Finals, Background, Miami Heat
Miami began the season with two undrafted players in their starting lineup, Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson. In his first season with the Heat, Butler was named an All-Star for the fifth time in his career, and Bam Adebayo received his first selection, giving Miami two players in an All-Star Game for the first time since Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in the 2015–16 season. Before the season was suspended, the Heat clinched both their first playoff berth and Southeast Division title since the 2017–18 season. After the season resumed, they earned the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.


2020 NBA Finals, Background, Miami Heat
The Heat swept the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs, upset the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and defeated the 3rd-seed Boston Celtics in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals to become the first fifth-seeded team to reach the NBA Finals. Only three other times had a lower seed reached the Finals: the Houston Rockets at No. 6 in 1981 and 1995, and the No. 8 New York Knicks in 1999.


2020 NBA Finals, Background, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers were coming off of a disappointing season in 2018–19 in which they extended their playoff drought which began in 2014. Their major free agent acquisition, LeBron James, suffered the first major injury in his career, and he missed the playoffs for the first time since 2005. On the final day of the season, Magic Johnson resigned as president of basketball operations, and head coach Luke Walton and the team mutually agreed to part ways a few days later.


2020 NBA Finals, Background, Los Angeles Lakers
During the offseason, general manager Rob Pelinka hired Frank Vogel as the Lakers' new head coach, and he acquired six-time All-Star power forward Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans in a three-way trade that also included the Washington Wizards. Pelinka was promoted to vice president of basketball operations in January 2020, while still retaining his GM role. Later in the month, legendary former Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash along with his daughter Gianna and seven others. The Lakers dedicated the season to him.


2020 NBA Finals, Background, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers clinched their first playoff berth since the 2012–13 season in March 2020, days before the season was suspended. It ended the longest drought in the franchise's history. After play resumed in the bubble, the Lakers clinched both their first Pacific Division title since 2012 and the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs for the first time since the 2009–10 season. James and Davis were runner-ups for the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, respectively, behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, and both were named to the All-NBA First Team.


2020 NBA Finals, Background, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers needed five games each to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the playoffs, the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals, and the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers reached the Finals for the first time since 2010, while James was making his ninth trip in 10 seasons.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
The Lakers' Anthony Davis had 34 points, nine rebounds and five assists in his first Finals game, and LeBron James added 25 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists to lead Los Angeles to a 116–98 win over Miami. The Heat led 23–10 in the middle of the first quarter before the Lakers outscored them 55–25 to lead by 17 at halftime. The Lakers expanded their lead to as high as 32 points in the third quarter. They made 13 of their first 20 three-point field goals in the game before cooling off and missing 16 of their last 18.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
Miami's Jimmy Butler twisted his left ankle before the end of the first half, but he remained in the game and finished with 23 points. Heat guard Goran Dragić did not play in the second half due to a foot injury. Miami center Bam Adebayo also did not finish the game after exiting in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. Dwight Howard remained as the Lakers' starting center after he moved into the starting lineup for the last few games of the conference finals against Denver.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
James scored 33 points and Davis added 32, leading the Lakers to a 2–0 series lead with a 124–114 win over the Heat. James and Davis were the first Lakers teammates to score 30 points in a Finals game since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in Game 3 of the 2002 NBA Finals. The team shot 51% for the game and made 22 of their first 25 two-point field goals, including a stretch of 16 straight towards the end of the first period through late in the third. Davis made 14 of his first 15 shots. Miami played short-handed without their injured starters Adebayo (neck and left shoulder) and Dragić (torn left plantar fascia).


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
The Lakers led by six points after the first quarter even though they made just three of 12 three-point attempts. Trailing by 14 at the half, the Heat scored 39 points in the third period but still were down 10 entering the fourth. They never got closer than 10 in the final period. Rajon Rondo had 16 points, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma also added 11 for the Lakers. The Lakers made 16 out of a season-high 47 three-pointers. Their starters made just seven of 28 with Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green combining to make three of 19. The team made 66% of its two-point attempts.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
Miami was led by Butler with 25 points and Kelly Olynyk with 24 off the bench. Tyler Herro and Meyers Leonard replaced Dragić and Adebayo in the starting lineup. Herro became the youngest player to start an NBA Finals game at 20 years, 256 days. He was eight days younger than Magic Johnson was when he started Game 1 for the Lakers in 1980 against the Philadelphia 76ers.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Butler finished with 40 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists for a triple-double to lead Miami to a 115–104 win as Heat starters Adebayo and Dragić remained sidelined. Miami led for most of the game. At multiple points, they looked to be taking control of the game, but the Lakers would answer. The Heat led by 13 in the first quarter before the Lakers rallied to take the lead five minutes later. Miami began the second half with a 10–0 run to lead by 14, but Los Angeles responded with eight straight points. The Heat were up 12 late in the third quarter before the Lakers outscored them 20–6 to regain the lead 91–89 with 8:55 remaining in the game. However, the Heat outscored the Lakers 26–13 to finish the game and cut the Lakers' lead to 2–1.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Butler became the third player in Finals history to record a 40+ point triple-double, joining James (then with the Cleveland Cavaliers) in 2015 and Jerry West with the Lakers in 1969. Butler also became the first player to have more points, rebounds and assists in a Finals game than James, who finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Davis, who was in foul trouble early, was held to just 15 points and five rebounds. The Lakers committed 20 turnovers, which led to 21 points for the Heat.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Los Angeles had 10 turnovers in the first quarter, the most of any team in the league during the season in the first period, including eight combined by James and Davis, who ended the game with eight and five turnovers, respectively. Herro and Olynyk both scored 17 points for Miami, while Kyle Kuzma and Markieff Morris both had 19 points off the bench for the Lakers. Miami's starters outscored the Lakers' starters 89–51.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Davis made a 3-pointer with 39.5 seconds remaining to give the Lakers a nine-point lead and securing the game en route to a 102–96 win and a 3–1 lead over the Heat. James had 28 points, eight assists and 12 rebounds, while Davis finished with 22 points, four assists and nine rebounds. Los Angeles was sloppy again with nine first-half turnovers, including five by James alone. With 8:18 remaining in the third quarter, James made a 3-pointer which put the Lakers ahead 55–54. The Lakers did not trail for the final 20 minutes, though Miami would remain close throughout.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
With 3:05 left in the game, Butler shot a corner 3-pointer that rimmed out which would have given the Heat the lead. Seven seconds later, Caldwell-Pope made a corner 3 to give the Lakers a 93–88 lead. Miami then committed a shot-clock violation, and Caldwell-Pope drove for a basket for a seven-point lead.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Caldwell-Pope contributed 15 points and Green scored 10 for the Lakers. Butler ended with 22 points, nine assists and 10 rebounds for the Heat. He made his first five shots for 11 points in the first quarter but did not make another field goal until the fourth quarter while being guarded by Davis and James. Herro had 21 points, Duncan Robinson scored 17 and Adebayo added 15 for the Heat after missing two games.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
Butler had 35 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists to lead Miami to a 111–108 win and stave off elimination, bringing the series to 3–2. The Heat weathered a dominant performance by James, who ended with 40 points on just 21 shots, 13 rebounds and seven assists. With the Lakers down by one and 18.8 seconds remaining in the game, James drove into the paint, where he was surrounded by Butler and Robinson with a third defender also approaching. James passed to a wide-open Green at the top of the key, but Green missed a 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left. Morris got the offensive rebound, pump-faked, but then threw the ball out of bounds with 2.2 seconds remaining in an attempt to get the ball to Davis under the basket.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
With 48 seconds left in the first quarter, Davis was kicked by Miami's Andre Iguodala in his right heel, which aggravated a contusion he received in the conference finals. After lying on the floor for minutes, Davis exited the game and began the second quarter on the bench, which helped the Heat amass a 11-point lead. The Lakers drew close to make it 60–56 at the half. Caldwell-Pope, who scored 16 points, made a 3-pointer to give the Lakers the lead in the fourth quarter. With 3:13 remaining, Robinson made a three-pointer to give the Heat a two-point lead, which began a run of either a tie or a lead change on the game's next nine scoring possessions, including six straight where James and Butler traded scores.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
Robinson ended with 26 points, including seven 3-pointers, which broke Gary Neal's record set in 2013 for most 3's by an undrafted player in the Finals. Butler was exhausted towards the end, having rested just 48 seconds all game while also guarding James and sometimes Davis on defense. He became the second player with multiple 30-point triple-doubles in the same Finals series, joining James in 2015. Butler was the sixth player with multiple triple-doubles in the same Finals series along with James, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain and Draymond Green.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
He also became the first with 35 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals in a Finals game, and he was just the second NBA player to reach those marks in the playoffs, joining Gary Payton in 2000. Davis scored 28 points and added 12 rebounds for the Lakers. By the end of the game, he was noticeably limping after another tumble around the basket. He and James scored 68 of the team's 108 points. They combined to shoot 24 for 36, while the other Lakers were 14 for 46.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 6
James had 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Lakers to a 106–93 win for their 17th league championship in franchise history and first since 2010. James was named the Finals MVP for the fourth time in his career. Winning the fourth championship of his career, he became the only player in NBA history to have been named Finals MVP with three different franchises. He won the award in a unanimous 11–0 vote.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 6
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel decided to start with a smaller, quicker lineup, inserting guard Alex Caruso for Howard and moving Davis to center. Los Angeles never trailed in the game and ended the first quarter ahead 28–20. They outscored Miami 36–16 in the second period and led by as many as 30 points in the first half. The Lakers' 64–36 halftime lead was the second-largest margin at halftime in Finals history, behind a 30-point lead by Boston over the Lakers in Game 1 in 1985. The Lakers also became the first NBA team to be undefeated in a season when leading entering the fourth quarter, going a combined 57–0 in the regular season and playoffs.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 6
Davis had 19 points and 15 rebounds. Adebayo led Miami with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Butler was held to only 12 points, but added eight assists and seven rebounds. Dragić, who returned from his Game 1 injury, had five points off the bench on 2-of-8 shooting along with five rebounds in 19 minutes.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 6
James ended the series averaging 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game. He and Davis became the first teammates in NBA history to both average 25 points and shoot 50% from the field in the same postseason. Butler became only the second player in a Finals series to lead his team outright in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, joining James in 2016 with the Cavaliers.


2020 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 6
With the Dodgers winning the World Series later in the month, Los Angeles repeated its achievement of having NBA and World Series champions in the same year, as both the Lakers and Dodgers had won in 1988.


2020 NBA Finals, Sponsorship
As part of a multiyear partnership that began in 2018, the internet television service YouTube TV was the presenting sponsor of the series. The 2020 NBA Finals Presented by YouTube TV logo was prominently displayed at centre court, with "Black Lives Matter" text featured above the midcourt logo (as it had been since the start of the NBA Bubble as part of the league and players' activism in response to the George Floyd protests), while Walt Disney World script logos were placed outside opposing lane lines on each side.


2020 NBA Finals, Media coverage
In the United States, the Finals were televised by ABC in English and ESPN Deportes in Spanish.


2020 NBA Finals, Media coverage
Game 5 of the Finals was the first NBA game to be aired on China Central Television (CCTV) in China since the disagreement between the NBA and that country over the Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweet in support of the Hong Kong anti-government protesters. NBA games had remained available for streaming on Tencent.


2020 NBA Finals, Media coverage, Viewership
The 2020 NBA Finals continued the trend of declining viewership, with 7.41 million people watching Game 1, making it the lowest rated and least-watched NBA Finals game on record (tracking viewership started in 1988). It aired opposite two Major League Baseball playoff games. The drop followed the shift in other sporting events rescheduled from their traditional times of year, such as the Stanley Cup Finals, the Kentucky Derby, the U.S. Open and the Indianapolis 500. The viewership further declined to a new record low of 6.609 million for Game 2. Despite the lows, both Game 1 and Game 2 were the most watched program for their respective days. Game 3, which aired opposite NBC's Sunday Night Football coverage, had its viewership continue to decrease to a new record low of approximately 5.94 million.


2020 NBA Finals, Aftermath
The local victory parade for the Lakers was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti stated on October 28, the day after the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series, that there would be separate public celebrations for both teams, though it was uncertain how mandated social distancing would be addressed.


2020 NBA draft
The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecticut, with the event held via videoconferencing. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. It was televised nationally on ESPN. The draft lottery was originally scheduled to take place on May 19, 2020, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead held on August 20, 2020.


2020 NBA draft
This was the first draft since 1975 to not be held in June and was also the second to be done later than that month after the inaugural 1947 draft, which was conducted in July by the NBA's predecessor, the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The first pick was made by the Minnesota Timberwolves, who selected Anthony Edwards out of Georgia.


2020 NBA draft, Notable undrafted players
These players were not selected in the 2020 NBA draft, but have played at least one game in the NBA.


2020 NBA draft, Trades involving draft picks, Pre-draft trades
Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between the teams.


2020 NBA draft, Trades involving draft picks, Draft-day trades
Draft-day trades will be made on the day of the draft.


2020 NBA draft, Combine
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that started earlier in the year, the invitation-only NBA Draft Combine and the event's on-court elements was held in multiple phases, lasting from September 28 until November 16, two days before the draft began. For the first part, players began their league and team interviews via videoconference feeds, similar to this year's draft lottery. This segment lasted from September 28 until October 16. Then, in the second part, players began their individual, on-court programs at the NBA team facility nearest the player's home or interim residence instead of at one standardized area.


2020 NBA draft, Combine
While players were allowed to continue working out on their own even back in September 2020, this section lasted from October 16 until November 16. This program included strength and agility tests, anthropometric measurements, shooting drills, medical testing and examinations, and a "Pro Day" video filmed via HomeCourt, a mobile basketball training application. The NBA also expanded their Combine HQ tool for this period.


2020 NBA draft, Combine
While the NBA disallowed their own staff members to be involved with these workouts in person (either in the team's own practice facilities or nearby the player himself) at first, they eventually relaxed some of these restrictions to include up to three team executives meeting with a player they're interested in personally, as well as allowed a player to workout with multiple teams at the same time in their own towns. The NBA also gave a limit of 10 meetings total with the candidates there, with any extra meetings with someone cutting into their amount allowed for this year.


2020 NBA draft, Combine
At the start of this year's draft combine, only 60 prospects were confirmed to participate in this event. The top, headlining prospect involved with this combine is LaMelo Ball, an automatically eligible draft prospect that gained fame as a professional player both nationally and overseas years earlier after skipping his junior year of high school and was a top-3 selection for the draft. In addition to him, R. J. Hampton was also invited as an automatically eligible draft prospect for this year, both representing Australia's NBL as outsider Rising Stars for different teams.


2020 NBA draft, Combine
Other notable invites include five fully international prospects (Deni Avdija, Killian Hayes, Théo Maledon, Paul Eboua, and Karim Mané, the last of whom played in a Canadian CEGEP), two high school postgraduates (Kenyon Martin Jr. and Josh Hall), and Jay Scrubb, a junior college prospect. Like with prior years, players still held the option to either sit out the combine or have only limited participation there, such as with LaMelo Ball doing interviews with teams only.


2020 NBA draft, Combine
For the first half of the combine, each participant was given a standard set of 10 questions to answer in front of each team asking them, as well as league officials under a half-hour setting, with players being allowed to interview as many teams as possible. In the second half of the combine, teams were allowed to meet with any candidate that had mutual interest in them back, though each team had a set limit of meetings with players in mind before the draft began. These meetings with players allowed teams to properly gauge each player to the best of their abilities during this time.


2020 NBA draft, Draft lottery
The NBA draft lottery is held annually to determine the draft order for the teams that did not make the playoffs in the preceding season. Every NBA team that missed the NBA playoffs holds a chance at winning a top-four pick, but teams with worse records have a better chance at winning a top-four pick, effective as of the 2019 draft. After the lottery selects the teams that receive a top-four pick, the other teams receive an NBA draft pick based on their winning percentage from the prior season.


2020 NBA draft, Draft lottery
As it is commonplace in the event of identical win-loss records, the NBA performs a random drawing to break ties for not just lottery teams, but also for playoff teams with equal records. This year, the Sacramento Kings won a tiebreaker for the draft lottery over the New Orleans Pelicans despite having a better overall record to conclude the regular season, bubble games included.


2020 NBA draft, Draft lottery
The lottery was originally scheduled to take place on May 19 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the length of the 2019–20 season's suspension. On July 21, 2020, the lottery was rescheduled for August 20. The lottery teams included the eight teams that did not play in the resumed 2019–20 NBA season in July and August: the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, and Charlotte Hornets.


2020 NBA draft, Draft lottery
They also included the other six teams that missed the playoffs in the resumed season: the Washington Wizards, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans, and Memphis Grizzlies, with seeding completely based on the teams' records from March 12, 2020. The new lottery still took place in the United Center, but all guests representing the teams in the lottery attended virtually instead through video communication feeds. This year, two of the bottom three teams (Minnesota and Golden State) received the top two selections, while Charlotte and Chicago both jumped up into the top four. Teams that resumed their seasons remained at their initial positions set at the time, with Memphis moving down to the 14th selection after initially being set for a playoff spot.


2020 NBA draft, Draft lottery
^ 1: The first record was the team's record as of March 12, 2020. The second record includes the team's eight bubble games, which were not used in determining lottery placements. ^ 2: The Memphis Grizzlies' pick was conveyed to the Boston Celtics since their selection stayed at pick 14, outside of the top 4.


2020 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants
The draft is conducted under the eligibility rules established in the league's 2017 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with its player's union. The previous CBA that ended the 2011 lockout instituted no immediate changes to the draft, but called for a committee of owners and players to discuss future changes.


2020 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants
The NBA has since expanded the draft combine to include players with remaining college eligibility (who, like players without college eligibility, can only attend by invitation).


2020 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants
Players who are not automatically eligible have to declare their eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than at least 60 days before the event. For the 2020 draft, the date fell on April 26 at first, but the deadline was postponed indefinitely and moved to August 17. After that date, "early entry" players are able to attend NBA pre-draft camps and individual team workouts to show off their skills and obtain feedback regarding their draft positions.


2020 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants
Under the CBA a player may withdraw his name from consideration from the draft at any time before the final declaration date, which is 10 days before. Under current NCAA rules, players have until 10 days after the draft combine to withdraw from the draft and retain college eligibility; however, due to COVID-19 disruptions, the NCAA announced that for the 2020 draft, the withdrawal deadline would be changed to 10 days after the combine or August 3, whichever came first.


2020 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants
A player who has hired an agent retains his remaining college eligibility regardless of whether he is drafted after an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee. Underclassmen who declare for the NBA draft and are not selected have the opportunity to return to their school for at least another year only after terminating all agreements with their agents, who must have been certified no later than August 1, 2020.


2020 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants, College underclassmen
This year, 205 underclassed draft prospects (i.e., players with remaining college eligibility) had declared by the initial April 26 deadline, with 163 of these players being from college or were high school postgraduates. The names left over mean they have hired an agent, or have announced that they plan to do so before the night of the draft.


2020 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants, College underclassmen
At the end of either the August 3 deadline (or the other one which was 10 days post-combine), 71 players declared their intentions to enter the draft with an agent, while 92 announced their return to college for at least one more season (or enter college in the case of Makur Maker). Additionally, one more academy postgraduate student managed to enter at the new underclassman deadline.


2020 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants, College underclassmen
Furthermore, three different underclassmen that were confirmed at the time (Jermaine Bishop, Isiaha Mike, and Filip Petrušev) all signed overseas contracts in Europe while waiting for this year's draft to begin, though they still remained listed under their colleges they played for before beginning the draft process as opposed to the new teams and leagues they signed for; Petrušev later withdrew from the draft on November 8, 2020 to stay with his new team, the Mega Soccerbet in Serbia, initially leaving the final number of underclassmen students entering the draft at 71 (69 excluding Bishop and Mike). Finally, at the November 8 deadline, Tony Goodwin II also withdrew his name from the draft, but Nikolaos Okekuoyen (a Greek-Nigerian postgraduate student from Ridgeview Prep) was approved for the draft that day, leaving the number of players still at 71.


2020 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants, International players
International players that declared this year and did not previously declare in another prior year can drop out about 10 days before the 2020 draft, which was November 8 this year. By the initial April 26 deadline, 42 international prospects, including one from a Canadian CEGEP (Quebecer college), expressed interest in this draft. By the end of the deadline set in August, seven of these players pulled their names out, leaving only 35 prospects, later adding one more player from a Canadian preparatory academy who also entered at that deadline.


2020 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants, International players
With Sergi Martínez & Joel Parra also dropping out of the draft before the draft deadline concluded, but after the official announcement came out, this officially brought the final number of underclassmen available down to 84 players instead of 86, with 23 international players exiting the draft by November this year instead of 21.


2020 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Automatically eligible entrants
Players who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:


2020 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Automatically eligible entrants
Players who meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:


2020 NBA playoffs
The 2020 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2019–20 season. The playoffs were originally scheduled to begin on April 18. However, the league suspended the season on March 11, 2020, hours after the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and after some players tested positive for the virus.


2020 NBA playoffs
On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved a plan to restart the season on July 31 in the NBA Bubble. This proposal was then approved by members of the National Basketball Players Association on June 5. Under this plan, the 22 top teams in the league at the time of the suspension played eight additional regular season games to determine playoff seeding, with 16 of those teams playing in a conventional postseason tournament. If the ninth seed within a conference would have finished the regular season within four games of the eighth seed, they would have then competed in a play-in series. The last time a play-in game was played to determine a playoff spot was in 1956.


2020 NBA playoffs
As part of the bubble, all playoff games were held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida.


2020 NBA playoffs
All three games that were scheduled to take place on August 26 were postponed by a wildcat strike, in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with the Milwaukee Bucks being the first team not to take the court prior to their game five matchup against the Orlando Magic. The games on August 27 and 28 were also postponed, with games resuming on August 29.


2020 NBA playoffs
The Toronto Raptors were defending champions, but lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals round to the Boston Celtics. None of the teams that made it to the Conference Finals in the 2019 NBA playoffs made the Conference Finals in 2020. These were the first playoffs since 1997 without the San Antonio Spurs, as they were eliminated from playoff contention on August 14, 2020, ending what was then the longest active playoff streak in the NBA and in the four major sports leagues in North America.


2020 NBA playoffs, Format
After the NBA suspended its season on March 11, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league started to explore implementing a special postseason format just for this year.


2020 NBA playoffs, Format
On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved a plan to restart the season on July 31 in the NBA Bubble, with 22 of the 30 teams in the league, all clubs within six games of a playoff spot. Under this plan, the 22 teams played eight regular-season "seeding" games. A possible best-of-three play-in series for the final seed in each conference would then be held if the ninth seed finished the regular season within four games of the eighth seed.


2020 NBA playoffs, Format
The eighth seed would start with a de facto 1–0 lead, meaning that it would need just one win to advance, while the ninth seed would need two. The NBA's regular playoff format would then proceed as normal. All games were played behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World.


2020 NBA playoffs, Format
Under the NBA's regular playoff format, the eight teams with the most wins in each conference qualified for the playoffs. The seedings were based on each team's record. Each conference's bracket was fixed; there was no reseeding. All rounds were best-of-seven series; the series ended when one team won four games, and that team advanced to the next round. All rounds, including the NBA Finals, were in a 2–2–1–1–1 format.


2020 NBA playoffs, Format
In the conference playoffs, home court advantage went to the higher-seeded team (number one being the highest), although since all games were played in the same location, this was merely a designated home court. Seeding was based on each team's regular season record within a conference; if two teams had the same record, standard tiebreaker rules were used. Conference seedings were ignored for the NBA Finals: Home court advantage went to the team with the better regular season record, and, if needed, ties were broken based on head to head record, followed by intra-conference record.


2020 NBA playoffs, Playoff qualifying
On February 23, 2020, the Milwaukee Bucks became the first team to clinch a playoff spot. The Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, and Boston Celtics subsequently clinched playoff berths before the season was suspended on March 11.


2020 NBA playoffs, Bracket
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (8) Orlando Magic
Milwaukee was the first team in the league to refuse to play a game for social justice following the shooting of Jacob Blake.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (8) Orlando Magic
This was the second playoff meeting between the two teams, with the Bucks winning the first meeting.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Toronto Raptors vs. (7) Brooklyn Nets
Toronto set an NBA playoff record in Game 4 with 100 bench points in a single game.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Toronto Raptors vs. (7) Brooklyn Nets
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Nets winning the two previous meetings.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (3) Boston Celtics vs. (6) Philadelphia 76ers
This was the 22nd playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning 13 of the first 21 meetings.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (4) Indiana Pacers vs. (5) Miami Heat
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Heat winning three of the first four meetings.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Portland Trail Blazers
Despite a losing effort, LeBron James had the first 20-point, 15 rebound, 15 assist performance in NBA playoff history.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Portland Trail Blazers
This was the Lakers first playoff series win since 2012.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Portland Trail Blazers
Game 5 was postponed by the league after the Lakers and Trail Blazers refused to play.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Portland Trail Blazers
This was the 12th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning nine of the first eleven meetings.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (7) Dallas Mavericks
Dončić's 42 points are the most points in a playoff debut. Following the game, many people, including LeBron James and current Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, criticized the officials for controversially ejecting Porziņģis during the 3rd quarter after he received two technical fouls that the critics considered "bogus".


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (7) Dallas Mavericks
Down by 1, Luka Dončić hit the game-winning 3 point buzzer-beater at the end of overtime. He becomes the youngest player to hit a buzzer-beater in the playoffs. His winning shot capped an incredible triple-double performance with 43 points, 17 rebounds, and 13 assists.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (7) Dallas Mavericks
The Clippers set 5 franchise records in this game, including: most points scored in a playoff game, as well as most 3-pointers made in a playoff game, as they shot 22-of-35 from long range.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (7) Dallas Mavericks
Kawhi Leonard became the first player since 2000 to have 30+ points, 10+ rebounds, 5+ assists and 5+ steals in a playoff game.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (7) Dallas Mavericks
This was the first playoff meeting between the Clippers and the Mavericks.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (3) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Utah Jazz
Mitchell's 57 points became the third most points scored in a single playoff game.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (3) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Utah Jazz
This was the first playoff game in NBA history in which two players scored 50 points.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (3) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Utah Jazz
Denver became the 12th team in NBA history to come back from a 3–1 deficit. Nikola Jokić scored the go-ahead hook shot with 27.8 seconds remaining in regulation. Mike Conley Jr.'s potential series-winning three-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (3) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Utah Jazz
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Jazz winning three of the first four meetings.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (4) Houston Rockets vs. (5) Oklahoma City Thunder
Game 5 was postponed by the league following a boycott by the Rockets and Thunder.


2020 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (4) Houston Rockets vs. (5) Oklahoma City Thunder
This was the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Thunder/SuperSonics winning six of the first eight meetings.


2020 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (5) Miami Heat
After being fouled by Giannis Antetokounmpo on a game-winning shot attempt as time expired in regulation, Jimmy Butler won the game for Miami with a pair of walk-off free throws. This marked the first time a playoff game had ended in such a fashion since Game 1 of the 1979 NBA Finals.


2020 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (5) Miami Heat
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Heat winning the previous meeting.


2020 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Toronto Raptors vs. (3) Boston Celtics
Both teams discussed a boycott of Game 1, similar to the Milwaukee Bucks, in protest due to the shooting of Jacob Blake. The game was eventually postponed.


2020 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Toronto Raptors vs. (3) Boston Celtics
With 0.5 seconds on the clock and Toronto trailing by 2, Kyle Lowry threw a cross-court inbounds pass to OG Anunoby, who made a 3-point shot as the buzzer sounded to win the game for Toronto.


2020 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Toronto Raptors vs. (3) Boston Celtics
This was the first playoff meeting between the Raptors and the Celtics. This was also the first best-of-7 playoff series in NBA history where the road team won every game (and the second overall in North American sports history in addition to the 2019 World Series).


2020 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) Houston Rockets
This was the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning five of the first eight meetings.


2020 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (2) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (3) Denver Nuggets
This was the first time that an NBA team overcame a 3–1 deficit twice in the same playoffs, and the first time an NBA franchise did so twice in the same decade.


2020 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (2) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (3) Denver Nuggets
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Clippers winning the previous meeting.


2020 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Finals, (3) Boston Celtics vs. (5) Miami Heat
This was the fourth playoff meeting between the two teams, with the Heat winning two of the first three meetings.


2020 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Western Conference Finals, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Denver Nuggets
Anthony Davis scored 31 points, including a 3-point shot over Nikola Jokić at the buzzer, to give the Lakers a 2–0 lead in the Western Conference Finals.


2020 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Western Conference Finals, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Denver Nuggets
This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first six meetings.


2020 NBA playoffs, NBA Finals: (W1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (E5) Miami Heat
This was the first playoff meeting between the Lakers and the Heat.


2020 NBA playoffs, Media coverage, Television
ESPN, ABC, TNT, and NBA TV broadcast the playoffs nationally in the United States. During the first two rounds, games were split between TNT, ESPN, and ABC regardless of conference. NBA TV also televised selected games in the first round. Regional sports networks affiliated with the teams also broadcast the games, except for games televised on ABC. The NBA Western Conference Finals aired on TNT, while ESPN televised the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. ABC owned the exclusive television rights to the 2020 NBA Finals, which was the 18th consecutive year for the network.


2020 NBA playoffs, Media coverage, Television
In Canada, the home market of the Toronto Raptors, national broadcast rights were split approximately equally between the Sportsnet and TSN groups of channels. Separate Canadian broadcasts were produced for all games involving the Raptors regardless of round or U.S. broadcaster.


2020 NBL Finals
The 2020 NBL Finals was the championship series of the 2019–20 NBL season and the conclusion of the season. The semi-finals started on 28 February and finished on 5 March 2020, with the following Grand Final starting on 8 March and being cancelled on 15 March 2020.


2020 NBL Finals
The Grand Final series was due to finish by 22 March 2020, however the COVID-19 pandemic forced the series to finish on 15 March 2020. The Perth Wildcats were leading 2–1 over the Sydney Kings in the best-of-five series when the remaining games were cancelled, which led the NBL to award Perth the title.


2020 NBL Finals, Format
The finals was played in February and March 2020 between the top four teams of the regular season, consisting of two best-of-three semi-final and one best-of-five final series, where the higher seed hosts the first, third and fifth games.


2020 NBL Finals, Format, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
Prior to Game 2 of the Grand Final, the NBL announced that the remainder of the Grand Final series would be played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with only players, essential personnel and friends and family would be permitted to attend the remaining games. In the event of a player being diagnosed with COVID-19, the Grand Final series would be immediately suspended.


2020 NBL Finals, Format, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
Following Game 3, the Sydney Kings informed the NBL that they did not wish to proceed with the remaining two games. Subsequently, the NBL decided to cancel Games 4 and 5. With the Perth Wildcats leading the series 2–1, the NBL announced that the Wildcats were declared the champions.


2020 NBL Finals, Qualification, Seedings
The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win-loss record, the overall points percentage will determine order of seeding.


2020 NBL Finals, Grand Final series, (1) Sydney Kings vs. (2) Perth Wildcats
Games 4 and 5 were cancelled and the Perth Wildcats declared champions after the Sydney Kings indicated they did not wish to proceed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 NBL1 season
The 2020 NBL1 season was due to be the second season of NBL1, and the first season utilising the conference system after the Queensland Basketball League (QBL) and Premier League (South Australia) joined the league during the off-season. The season was scheduled to begin on March 14 for the Central Conference, April 18 for the South Conference and April 24 for the North Conference, however the COVID-19 pandemic forced the start of the season to be delayed, and later cancelled.


2020 NBL1 season, Background
After a successful first season, the NBL1 announced in October 2019 that it would be expanding into Queensland for the 2020 season. In January 2020, NBL1 expanded with the establishment of North and South conferences for the 2020 season. After a landmark agreement with Basketball Queensland, NBL1 North replaced the Queensland Basketball League (QBL). As a result, the 2019 NBL1 teams formed the new South Conference. The following month, NBL1 expanded into South Australia with an identical agreement with Basketball South Australia for NBL1 Central to replace the Premier League.


2020 NBL1 season, Background
After the National Basketball League (NBL) was forced to close its doors for their Grand Final series and later cancel games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBL1 were forced to delay the start of the season.


2020 NBL1 season, Background
On 24 March 2020, it was announced that the season would be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.


2020 NC State Wolfpack baseball team
The 2020 NC State Wolfpack baseball team represented North Carolina State University during the 2020 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Wolfpack played their home games at Doak Field as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were led by head coach Elliott Avent, his 24th season at NC State. On March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NC State and the ACC announced the season will be suspended until further notice. On March 17, 2020, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced all spring sports would be cancelled for the remainder of the season.


2020 NC State Wolfpack baseball team, Previous Season
In 2019, the Wolfpack finished the season 2nd in the ACC's Atlantic Division with a record of 42–19, 18–12 in conference play. They qualified for the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament, and were eliminated in the semifinals. They were invited to the 2019 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, where they played in the Greenville Regional, where they lost to East Carolina.


2020 NC State Wolfpack baseball team, Ranking movements
^ Collegiate Baseball ranks 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. † NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. * New poll was not released for this week so for comparison purposes the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.


2020 NC State Wolfpack football team
The 2020 NC State Wolfpack football team represented North Carolina State University during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolfpack played their home games at Carter–Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, and competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). They were led by eighth-year head coach Dave Doeren. The Wolfpack finished the regular season 8–3, 7–3 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fourth place in the conference. They received an invite to the 2021 Gator Bowl where they lost to SEC foe Kentucky.


2020 NC State Wolfpack football team, Previous season
The Wolfpack finished the 2019 season 4–8, 1–7 in ACC play to finish in seventh place in the Atlantic Division.


2020 NC State Wolfpack football team, Schedule
NC State had games scheduled against Delaware, Mississippi State, and Troy, which were  canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 NC State Wolfpack football team, Schedule
The ACC released their schedule on July 29, with specific dates announced on August 6.


2020 NC State Wolfpack men's soccer team
The 2020 NC State Wolfpack men's soccer team represented North Carolina State University during the 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The Wolfpack were led by head coach George Kiefer, in his fourth season. They played their home games at Dail Soccer Field in Raleigh, North Carolina. This was the team's 70th season playing organized college soccer.


2020 NC State Wolfpack men's soccer team
The teams' 2020 season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which curtailed the fall season and caused the NCAA Tournament to be played in Spring 2021. The ACC was one of the only two conferences in men's soccer to play in the fall of 2020. The ACC also held a mini-season during the spring of 2021.


2020 NC State Wolfpack men's soccer team
The Wolfpack finished the fall season 0–6–1 and 0–5–1 in ACC play to finish in fifth place in the South Division. They did not qualify for the ACC Tournament. They finished the spring season 3–2–3 and 1–2–3 in ACC play, to finish in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. They were not invited to the NCAA Tournament.


2020 NC State Wolfpack men's soccer team, Background
The 2019 NC State men's soccer team finished the season with an 9–7–3 overall record and a 3–4–1 ACC record. The Wolfpack were seeded fifth–overall in the 2019 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament, where they beat Duke in the first round, but lost to Pittsburgh in the second round. The Wolfpack earned an at-large bid into the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, where they lost to Coastal Carolina in the first round in double overtime to end their season.


2020 NC State Wolfpack men's soccer team, Squad, Roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2020 NC State Wolfpack women's soccer team
The 2020 NC State Wolfpack women's soccer team represented NC State University during the 2020 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. The Wolfpack were led by head coach Tim Santoro, in his ninth season. They played home games at Dail Soccer Field. This was the team's 37th season playing organized women's college soccer and their 34th playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.


2020 NC State Wolfpack women's soccer team
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACC played a reduced schedule in 2020 and the NCAA Tournament was postponed to 2021. The ACC did not play a spring league schedule, but did allow teams to play non-conference games that would count toward their 2020 record in the lead up to the NCAA Tournament.


2020 NC State Wolfpack women's soccer team
The Wolfpack did not play in the fall season. However, they did resume play for the spring non-conference season.


2020 NC State Wolfpack women's soccer team
The Wolfpack finished the spring season 5–3–1 and did not receive an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Their non-invitation broke a four-year streak of being invited to the tournament.


2020 NC State Wolfpack women's soccer team, Previous season
The Wolfpack finished the season 12–7–4, 4–2–4 in ACC play to finish in fifth place. As the fifth seed in the ACC Tournament, they defeated Louisville in the Quarterfinals before falling to eventual champions North Carolina in the Semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Navy and Arkansas before losing to BYU in the Round of 16.


2020 NC State Wolfpack women's soccer team, Squad, Roster
Updated March 12, 2021Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
The 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships was the 82nd annual NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship and the 40th annual NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship to determine the team and individual national champions of NCAA Division I men's and women's collegiate cross country running in the United States. In all, four different titles were contested: men's and women's individual and team championships. Results were track and field results reporting system.


2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
In the men's 10k, Conner Mantz of Brigham Young University took home the individual title in 29:26.1, while Northern Arizona University won the team title, scoring 60 points and defeating second-placed University of Notre Dame (87) and third-placed Oklahoma State University (142). In the women's 6k, Mercy Chelangat of the University of Alabama won the individual title in 20:01.1, while Brigham Young University won the team title with 96 points, beating second-placed NC State University (161) and third-placed Stanford University (207).


2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the championship was delayed until March 2021.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Two human polls and a committee's selections comprise the 2020 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship at the FBS level. Instead, that title is bestowed by one or more different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll. One additional poll, the College Football Playoff (CFP) ranking, is usually released starting midway through the season.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
The CFP rankings determine who makes the four-team playoff that determines the College Football Playoff National Champion. Due to scheduling impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, release of CFP rankings during the 2020 season was adjusted to have the first rankings issued on November 24 and the final rankings issued on December 20.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, AP Poll
*Teams whose season had been suspended were still ranked in the preseason poll; such teams were not considered after Week 1.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, CFP Rankings
The initial 2020 College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday, November 24, 2020.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, CFP Rankings, Criticism
In the Week 15 CFP rankings, the committee was widely criticized for dropping the Florida Gators only one spot from No. 6 to No. 7 following their home loss to a losing–record, unranked LSU Tigers team that was starting a freshman quarterback for the first time. Some also criticized the committee for undervaluing the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats (dropped from No. 8 to No. 9 behind three two–loss teams) and for overvaluing the two–loss Iowa State Cyclones (rose from No. 7 to No. 6 despite two losses, including being defeated by the one-loss, No. 19-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, 31–14).


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 151st season of college football games in the United States. Organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision it began on September 3, 2020.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The season was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States; all of the Power Five conferences initially announced plans to play a fall football season beginning on August 29, but greatly reducing non-conference games to reduce the extent of interstate travel.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The ACC, Big 12, and SEC, as well as several other Group of Five conferences, began their seasons in September (though with some conferences delaying their start, and all "Week 0" kickoff games were scratched due to the aforementioned restrictions on non-conference play), while independent Notre Dame agreed to play a full conference schedule with the ACC.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season
In August, the Big Ten, Pac-12, MAC, Mountain West, and several independents announced that they would delay their football seasons indefinitely due to concerns regarding the pandemic, targeting the possibility of playing in the spring of 2021 instead. By late September, however, the four conferences had reversed their decisions and announced plans to play shortened seasons.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season
Aside from all-star games, the postseason concluded on January 11, 2021, with the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida; this was the seventh season of the College Football Playoff championship system. Some postseason activities, including the final CFP rankings and the Heisman Trophy nominations, were delayed in order to provide flexibility for conferences to finish delayed seasons in mid-December.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season
A number of bowl games were canceled due to recommendations by local health officials, or because they were unable to secure teams after multiple programs opted out of bowl games due to COVID-19 concerns. Additionally due to COVID-19, the Rose Bowl was played outside of Pasadena, California for the first time since 1942, while the New Mexico Bowl was played in Texas.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Rule changes
The following playing rule changes were approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel for 2020:


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Season preparations
Multiple universities and conferences had already canceled their spring football games as part of the wider, nationwide suspension of organized sports and athletics due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. On March 13, the NCAA announced a suspension of all Division I on-campus and off-campus recruiting until April 15. In regards to its impact on the regular season, NCAA president Mark Emmert stated on May 8 that individual decisions on fall semester sports would likely begin to appear as early as June or around July 4.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Season preparations
He suggested that the operation of athletics programs would depend on students being present on-campus to a degree (but not necessarily "up and running in the full normal model"), explaining that "you have to treat the health and well-being of the athletes at least as much as the regular students", but that "this is going to be a very unusual school year, and we just have to make the best of it".


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Season preparations
The NCAA Division I Council prohibited on-campus activities through May 31; on May 20, the Council voted to end the moratorium and allow voluntary on-campus activity in football and basketball to begin June 1, subject to new safety protocols. On June 17, the Division I Council approved a timetable for a season assumed to begin September 5, including beginning non-voluntary training activities on July 13.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Season preparations
On June 24, USA Today reported that at least 37 FBS schools had reported positive cases of COVID-19 among student-athletes or staff since practices resumed. Amidst a spike in cases in the Southern U.S. since late-June, several state governors, including Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Georgia's Brian Kemp, and South Carolina's Henry McMaster, have warned that football season could be threatened if cases do not subside in time.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Season preparations
On July 13, it was announced that the Patriot League would not be participating in a football season this year, however, the United States Military Academy as well as the Naval Academy were not included in the settlement as their school superintendent was in charge of making decisions regarding whether their athletic programs would have their seasons.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Season preparations
On July 16, the NCAA released a series of recommendations regarding protocols for fall sports, including that all participants in "high contact risk sports" be tested with results within 72 hours of play. President Emmert noted, however, that the guidelines presumed that the infection rate would be "manageable", and that "If there is to be college sports in the fall, we need to get a much better handle on the pandemic."


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Season preparations
The American Athletic Conference announced the same day that it will adhere to this protocol; commissioner Mike Aresco stated that "with the proper quarantine and the proper canvassing of close contacts, we think at this point it would be safe to play games." On July 18, the SEC announced that it would still honor scholarships for players who opt out of the fall season due to safety concerns.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Season preparations
On July 28, by request of the Football Oversight Committee, the NCAA announced that it had issued a blanket waiver to allow any team to play in "Week 0", in order to allow for greater scheduling flexibility amid changing conditions.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Season preparations
On August 12, members of the NCAA Division I council met and discussed eligibility for student-athletes. They recommended to the Division I board that athletes should be granted an extension on their 5-year eligibility due to the pandemic.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Season preparations
In the event that conditions would not improve by the traditional timeframe of football season, the possibility of delaying the football season entirely to spring 2021 was suggested by several coaches. However, it was largely considered by them to be a last resort. Aresco commented that such a delay would likely require practices to be held over the winter indoors—environments that have been shown to exacerbate spread of COVID-19.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conference responses
All of the Power Five conferences initially announced that they would go on with their season as scheduled, but with cuts to non-conference games in order to overcome logistical concerns and reduce interstate travel. The Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC were all limiting play to in-conference opponents only. The ACC and Big 12 would allow one non-conference game each, with the ACC restricting them to in-state opponents. The ACC also suspended the use of divisions, with the top two teams in conference play by winning percentage advancing to the ACC Championship Game.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conference responses
The restrictions complicated matters for FBS independents; the first four games of the BYU Cougars were all against Big Ten and Pac-12 teams, while Notre Dame lost three of its marquee games of the season—including one against Wisconsin that was to be played at Lambeau Field, and traditional rivalry games against Stanford (not held for the first time since 1996) and USC (postponed for the first time since 1945 due to World War II). Notre Dame and Navy had also canceled a planned international game in Dublin, Ireland, and tentatively rescheduled it for Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Some FCS conferences (such as the Patriot League) have canceled or postponed the football season outright, affecting games against FBS opponents.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conference responses
On July 29, the ACC announced that Notre Dame (which is an ACC member in all other sports outside of football and men's ice hockey, the latter a sport not sponsored by the ACC) would participate as a member of the conference for the 2020 season, being incorporated into its scheduling model (including 10 games against ACC opponents, expanding from six already scheduled) and being eligible to compete for the conference championship. Notre Dame pooled its media rights revenue from NBC with that of the ACC's other media rights, and was eligible to receive a share of the total revenue.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conference responses
Among the Group of Five conferences, Conference USA announced on August 7 that it had approved an eight-game schedule with up to four non-conference games. The next day, however, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced the postponement of all fall sports for the 2020 season, including football. The conference stated that it would pursue attempts to play in spring 2021. With this decision, the MAC became the first FBS conference to cancel or postpone the football season. Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher stated that "there are simply too many unknowns to put our student-athletes into situations that are not clearly understood." The cancellation of non-conference games by the Power Five conferences—especially the Big Ten—was also expected to have a financial impact on its schools, with the Big Ten games alone expected to bring $11 million.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conference responses
In the wake of the decision, ESPN reported on August 9 that the commissioners of the Power Five conferences had held an emergency meeting to discuss possible options for fall sports, amid the worsening state of the pandemic in the United States. On August 10, the Mountain West Conference (MWC) followed the MAC as the second Group of Five conference to postpone fall sports indefinitely. Despite the postponement, Air Force will still contest the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy games against Navy and Army.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conference responses
On August 11, the Big Ten became the first Power Five conference to postpone fall sports, followed shortly thereafter by the Pac-12. The Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Ten disclosed an intent to attempt non-conference play in the fall, although the logistical aspects of such a move (including scheduling) and possible repercussions within the conference were unknown. Commissioner Kevin Warren confirmed that Nebraska could not do so as a member of the Big Ten. A major factor in the Big Ten's decision was cardiovascular complications from the virus, while the Pac-12 cited that rapid testing capabilities would be needed to resume play.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conference responses
Following the decisions, the ACC, Big 12, and SEC all issued statements affirming their intent to play as scheduled in the fall. The Big Ten's decision became politicized, with President Donald Trump having criticized closures of university campuses, and having pushed in particular for the Big Ten to play in the fall. After the decision to postpone the season, the Big Ten formed a taskforce to investigate options for a return to play.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conference responses
On September 16, the Big Ten approved an eight-game conference season that would begin October 24, and conclude on December 19 with cross-division matchups between each seed (with the game between the top seeds played as the Big Ten Championship Game). The conference is instituting a daily antigen testing protocol beginning September 30; PCR tests will be used to confirm positives found via antigen testing.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conference responses
Players who test positive on both tests will be removed from play for at least 21 days and undergo cardiac tests during this period, and will have to be cleared by a cardiologist before they can return to play. Positivity rates among participating teams and the local population will also be a factor: teams with a positivity rate above 5% or a population positivity rate above 7% will be required to halt all activity for seven days.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conference responses
In response to the Big Ten's reversal, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott stated that the conference was awaiting authorization by health officials in California and Oregon to resume full-contact practices, and that it was also monitoring the air quality impact of ongoing wildfires in the western United States. The conference secured a provider for rapid testing earlier in the month. On September 24, the Pac-12 officially announced that it would allow football, basketball, and winter sports seasons to resume, with plans to play a seven-game conference season beginning on November 6, and concluding with the Pac-12 Championship Game on December 18.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conference responses
The same day, the Mountain West announced that it too had approved an eight-game conference season beginning October 24. The next day, the MAC unanimously approved a six-game season beginning in November.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Conference responses
On November 19, the Pac-12 lifted a restriction on non-conference home games.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Impact on the postseason
On July 15, the Rose Parade was canceled due to the pandemic. The same day, the NCAA announced that FBS teams would be permitted to count two wins against FCS teams, instead of the usual one, towards bowl eligibility. The NCAA later waived bowl eligibility requirements for the 2020–21 bowl season.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Impact on the postseason
On August 5, the College Football Playoff (CFP) announced that it would delay the announcement of its final rankings and matchups for the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl from December 6 to December 20, in order to accommodate conferences that had delayed their championship games to mid-December. The CFP announced that it would still go on as scheduled, with only the teams playing in the fall being eligible for consideration in its rankings.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Impact on the postseason
The voting deadline for the Heisman Trophy was similarly pushed back to December 21, with the presentation likewise scheduled for January 5, 2021. On November 14, the in-person presentation was canceled (its previous site, the PlayStation Theater in New York City, had also closed at the beginning of the year). The presentation was moved to ESPN's studio in Bristol, Connecticut, scheduled as a television-only event with finalists and past winners appearing via remote interviews.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Impact on the postseason
Several bowl games were canceled due to the pandemic, while others, including the Fiesta Bowl and Rose Bowl, were restricted to being played behind closed doors without fans due to local health orders. On December 19, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association announced that the Rose Bowl would be re-located to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (typically the host of the Cotton Bowl Classic), citing rising cases in the state of California, and state health officials denying a request to allow at least the family members of players to attend. The Tournament of Roses Association stated that it was unclear whether they will still be allowed to refer to the game as the "Rose Bowl", as doing so will require permission from the city of Pasadena under their Master License Agreement.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Player responses
Several players from the Pac-12 announced a unity group titled #WeAreUnited to negotiate with the conference and league with specific demands in regards to the 2020 football season. Including some players willing to boycott if their ultimatum was not satisfied. Players from the Big Ten, created a similar unity which calls for increase in testing and safety protocols.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Player responses
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence sparked a trend on Twitter with the hashtag, #WeWantToPlay, on August 9. Other players such as Justin Fields (Ohio State), Najee Harris (Alabama), and Chuba Hubbard (Oklahoma State), help contribute to make the hashtag No. 1 in the United States on Twitter. President Donald Trump shared Lawrence's tweet, stating "The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be cancelled." as well using the #WeWantToPlay hashtag. Later #WeAreUnited and #WeWantToPlay merged with players across the Power 5, with the goal of creating a union. Nick Saban joins other coaches, Jim Harbaugh and Ryan Day, by joining the movement, by stating players will be safer from the virus together as a team than at home.


2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Player responses
Eight Nebraska players sued the Big Ten in late-August 2020, claiming that the conference's council did not actually vote on postponing the football season.