The compact, 66-game schedule turned out better than the NBA probably could have dreamed. There’s been solid action almost every night for the last few months and now we’re finishing out the season with some exciting playoff races. Considering how close we were to not even having a season, I’d say the NBA pulled off a miracle.
The NBA says ratings are up and attendance is the same as last year. David Stern says the grueling schedule hasn’t resulted in more injuries than normal, but even with all these positives, the NBA says they plan on returning to the regular, 82-game schedule when this season is over.
“If you cut the season shorter, we cut our revenues significantly as well. Players would make less, so no, and I think it’s not optimal to play a condensed season in this fashion,” said Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver.
“I think both we and the players’ union recognized that going in, but it was a compromise on both our parts to maximize the amount of salary players would get this season and to have as authentic a season as possible, sufficient number of games for competitive reasons… I think it’s turned out OK, but again, we prefer the 82-game season to the 66-game season.”
I hadn’t even considered the option of keeping the schedule the way it was this year, I just assumed they’d revert back. It definitely makes sense to play more games and spread them out, but I have to say I’ve really enjoyed this season. I’m sure the players would take back the normal schedule, playing 3 games in a row and having quick turnarounds on travel days must be really tough on the body.
There’s definitely advantages and disadvantages to both, but I suppose the 82-game schedule has been working just fine. There’s no reason not to go back to it. No one REALLY pays attention until the playoffs anyway, right?
