If I ruled the NBA, I would keep the regular season at 82 games and the games at 48 minutes long.
In honor of basketball season starting up, I thought I would write about the latest buzz in the NBA as far as rules go shortening games and shortening the season in order to take away some of the wear and tear of the long season for the players.
Many players have recently brought this idea to the attention of NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
During the preseason the NBA tried out a 44-minute contest in a game between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets.
Mark Duncan / AP Photo
The game lasted one hour and 58 minutes, which is about 25 minutes shorter than a regular 48-minute game.
Both head coaches Brad Stevens of the Celtics and Lionel Hollins of the Nets said they did not notice much change.
“I didn’t notice it a whole lot, and I don’t know how much impact it had on the game,” Stevens said. Hollins also backed up what Stevens said.
He said that he did not notice any change other than that the first timeout was called very early in the game.
Players such as LeBron James say that they would rather have a shorter season than shorter games.
“It’s not the minutes, it’s the games,” James said before the Cleveland Cavaliers’ preseason victory over the Indiana Pacers.
“The minutes doesn’t mean anything. We can play 50-minute games if we had to,” James said.
But what James is for, along with fellow NBA veteran Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks, is a shorter regular season.
Nowitzki is saying that he would like the season to be shortened from 82 games to somewhere in the mid-60’s. James agreed adding, “82 games is a lot” for NBA players.
This is where hall of famer and arguably the best player in the NBA, Michael Jordan steps in.
He explained how the season should not be shortened.
Jordan is surprised that players want the season shortened because all he wanted to do was play, because he loved it. “I love both of those guys, but as an owner who played the game, I loved playing,’’ Jordan, who owns the Charlotte Hornets, adds.
“If I wasn’t playing 82 games, I still would’ve been playing somewhere else because that’s the love for the game I had.
As a player, I never thought 82 games was an issue.” He went on to say that he would not vote to shorten the season by 15 to 20 games.
There is no reason to shorten games to 44 minutes. The outcome of many games are decided in the last few minutes and seconds and taking those extra four minutes away would be a huge factor.
The NBA has always played 48-minute games and it should stay that way.
As for shortening the season, this should not happen. NBA players today are worried about their bodies wearing down over the course of the season.
What they should realize is that they are playing the game that they love and they should want to play as many games as possible.
Mike Miezejeski can be contacted at mmiezejeski@keene-equinox.com
