The NBA made some scheduling changes for 2017-18 in an effort to reduce the need for players to rest during regular season games, as became a hot topic of conversation around the league in the second half of last season.
While limiting back-to-backs by stretching the season out by an extra week was a good start, 82 games remains an awful lot and there will inevitably be need for rest and also heightened risk of injury. The calls for a shorter schedule have grown in recent years, as sports science learns more about the ideal balance of rest and activity as compared to the demands of the NBA season.
Teams at the top of the conference and looking to make deep playoff runs are far more concerned about success in June than they are about a game or two in March. The idea of shortening the schedule hasn’t been approached seriously by the league, beyond it being suggested by Steve Kerr among others, because it’s unknown what the financial ramifications of a shorter schedule would be on the league with regards to broadcast partners and in-arena revenue.
Interestingly enough, what may spur a future change in schedule length isn’t the current issue of player rest, but the NBA’s desires to expand the game globally. With the Warriors and Timberwolves in China to start the preseason, NBA commissioner Adam Silver was, naturally, asked about the league’s hopes for the future regarding potentially having more games or more teams outside the United States.
In speaking with Sam Amick of USA Today, Silver explained that as of now, airplane technology wouldn’t allow for a team or even regular season games in China or the UK, but noted Mexico City is an intriguing location for a potential expansion club in the future. Should the league expand and create a more rigorous travel schedule for teams, Silver says there’s “nothing magical” about the 82-game schedule and reducing that would certainly be looked into.
“There’s nothing magical about 82 games,” Silver continued. “It’s been in place for 50 years, but for the long-term planning of the league, as we learn more about the human body and the wear and tear of travel and the competitive landscape … invariably we’ll look at the regular season. And in looking at the regular season, it may create more opportunities for international franchises.”
The importance of this statement is that the door is, if nothing else, cracked slightly for schedule reform. The NBA has proven this offseason it’s not afraid to make big changes to things like the draft lottery and All-Star game, so lessening the schedule certainly could happen in the future. That said, it’s not as thought change is imminent or even likely, but the NBA wants global reach and if the business opportunities created by expanding outside the U.S. are great enough, that could offset the concerns of losing money from broadcast partners and the like.
