The NBA already is experimenting with shortening the length of its games. Should it look at trimming the length of its season, too?
Dirk Nowitzki thinks so.
The Dallas Mavericks star told reporters Wednesday that he believes the league’s current 82-game schedule is too long.
“I think you don’t need 82 games to determine the best eight in each conference,” Nowitzki said, via ESPN.com. “That could be done a lot quicker, but I always understand that it’s about money, and every missed game means missed money for both parties, for the league, for the owners, for the players. I understand all that, and that’s why I don’t think it’s going to change any time soon.”
The biggest qualm most players seem to have with the schedule as it’s currently constituted is the number of back-to-backs, which can lead to fatigued lineups and sloppy basketball. Rather than squeezing in 82 games, Nowitzki said he’d recommend playing somewhere in the “mid-60s.”
“Last year, some teams get here for the fourth game in five nights and we’ve been sitting here on rest and just blow them out,” Nowitzki said. “I don’t think it’s good for the product, but I also understand that 82 games is where it’s at. It’s a business, and everybody’s got to live with it.”
It’s not just players, either. Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra agreed that the number of games, not their length, is the issue.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of how long the game is,” Spoelstra said, via ESPN.com. “I think there’s too many games, to be frank. I think if there’s some way to find a way to cut out some of the back-to-backs so there aren’t 20-plus of them. I think that’s the bigger issue, not shaving off four minutes in a particular game. But I’m open to seeing what happens with that.”
UPDATE (6:50 p.m.): Also in agreement: LeBron James.
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