As I work my way through the 101 off-season questions I’ve lined up, one stood out. A familiar debate, thought-provoking and always circling the conversation: should the NBA season be longer, shorter, or is 82 games the sweet spot?
By instinct, I lean traditionalist. I’m wired that way.
When baseball outlawed the shift and introduced a pitch clock, I bristled. When the National League adopted the DH, I thought the sport had been gutted. 150 years of heritage had been tossed aside in one stroke. But
here’s the thing: the changes worked. The game is faster, sharper, and more watchable. I was wrong. I’ll admit it. I’ve even gone from mocking robot umps to pounding the table for them. At this point, I don’t care who makes the call. Just get it right, dammit.
When it comes to basketball, I don’t really have an issue with the 82-game schedule. I get the counterarguments. The NBA has never been faster, never more athletic, never stocked with players who train at such an elite level. The game moves at a breakneck pace, and with it comes the narrative that injuries are more frequent. And that trimming games would protect the product by protecting the players.
Sounds good in theory. But I don’t buy it. Not the part about this being the most athletic era we’ve ever seen, that’s undeniable. What I question is the link between schedule length and injuries. Because injuries will always happen. And in my eyes, a lot of what we’re seeing now isn’t fatigue-based. It’s the nature of the sport itself.
So I land on the traditional side of this debate. Keep it at 82. That’s been the standard since 1962, the measuring stick every great player has been held to. Cut it down to 72 and suddenly LeBron James is cemented as the all-time scoring king forever. No one could ever touch the number simply because the math wouldn’t allow it.
And let’s not kid ourselves, shall we? The league isn’t giving up games. Games equal money, and the NBA isn’t in the business of leaving cash on the table, especially while they’re pulling in record profits. Is that in the best interest of the players? No. But it’s the harsh, unshakable reality of the business.
But still, I don’t think the NBA should move away from the 82-game regular season. What I do believe is that the calendar needs a hard shift.
Look around. It’s August, the dead zone of sports. And it doesn’t have to be. Right now, the NBA tips off in mid-October, dropping itself right in the middle of both college football and the NFL, as well as the World Series. No wonder the league has to cook up gimmicks like the NBA Cup just to pretend anyone cares. Who won the NBA Cup last year? Exactly. You had to stop and think. I did too. Was it the Bucks? Nobody remembers because it doesn’t matter.
The first real moment the NBA owns the spotlight is Christmas Day. So why not start the season then? Push everything back two months. Tip-off on Christmas. All-Star weekend in mid-March, where it actually sits at the halfway point instead of two-thirds in. Playoffs in June. And then? Crown a champion right about now, late August, when the sports world is wide open. No football. Baseball stuck in its mid-summer slog. The NBA could own the summer and dominate the airwaves.
If that scheduling tweak drives more revenue, maybe that’s when the league finally feels comfortable shaving off five games a year and trimming some of those brutal back-to-backs. Or if they stretch it out correctly, the 82-game schedule can avoid all of those pesky B2B’s.
So while I’m not in favor of shortening the season, and I know that puts me in the minority, I am in favor of shifting it.
At the end of the day, the number of games isn’t the problem. It’s the calendar. 82 has always been the standard, and it should stay that way. But if the NBA really wants to maximize its product, showcase its stars, and give fans something to rally around when the sports world is starved for action, it’s not about fewer games. It’s about smarter timing. Start on Christmas, end in August, and let basketball finally own the summer.
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