NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has never been shy in looking for ways to improve the current NBA product, even when it messes with the tradition of the game in the eyes of some. But according to Silver, one tradition that is likely here to stay is the 82-game regular season schedule.
Silver addressed the media in his annual pre-NBA Finals press conference ahead of Thursday’s Game 1 matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, where he discussed several possible changes coming for the NBA, including potential league expansion and a revamp to the NBA All-Star Game format.
Additionally, the regular season schedule was a talking point for Silver, who was asked, after a postseason that saw both Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum suffer significant injuries this postseason, whether there was a possibility of a decreased regular season schedule in the future to potentially reduce wear and tear for players in the postseason.
Responding to this question, Silver explained how he believes the league has actually given more rest days in the postseason than in years past for players. And as far as a reduced NBA regular season goes, Silver believes that there is “no data” to suggest less regular-season games would lead to fewer injuries.
“I’m not sure it’s a function of the regular season,” said Silver. “There is a certain cadence to the playoffs. If anything, there’s more space in the playoff games than when you and I grew up in the NBA. We used to frequently play playoff games back-to-back on the weekends.
“Having said that, we, of course, look at it very closely. We have a competition committee [meeting] coming up next week, and then another one in July in Las Vegas. Part of what we do is look at every form of data that we can get our hands on. That includes minutes played, injuries, and whatever impact we see that back-to-backs are having on players. Not just measured by injuries, but also measured by production on the floor.
“We’re going to continue to look at it. I don’t think there are any magic bullets here. In fact, injuries are considered down this playoffs from what has been historically. I think it’s our second-lowest in 10 years. So we have pretty healthy teams coming into the Finals now. So we look at it very closely. This question comes up a lot. I think I don’t want to make a change just to make it change. We will continue to look at it.”
Silver did further acknowledge later on in the press conference that the NBA, like any other league, is a business that obviously benefits from as many games as possible.
“Money is part of it, there’s no question about it. We’re a business. But having said that, I don’t really see the benefit to reducing the number of games. People used to say you should reduce the number of games because it will lead to reduction in the number of injuries. There’s absolutely no data to suggest that.”
The general notion that most presume to be true is that more regular-season games, which also includes more travel for players, would presumably lead to more injuries for players. But Silver seems to believe that the “data” actually doesn’t lend this narrative to be true.
There is data, released by the NBA last year, that suggests load management in the regular season doesn’t lead directly to fewer injuries. But unless Silver has some information that the general public isn’t keen on, there isn’t any public data to support Silver’s claims that more games don’t directly lead to more injuries.
One factor that Silver also doesn’t seem to be taking into account is how the players feel about the current schedule. Notably, Denver Nuggets star Aaron Gordon was quite vocal about how he and other players around the league suffered what he felt were “fatigue-based injuries” in the playoffs.
Given the fact that the NBA recently inked its massive 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal that goes into effect next season, it makes sense that the league, or its media partners, wouldn’t be thrilled with the idea of a reduced regular season schedule.
But at least on paper, there is perhaps an argument that the NBA could foolishly be favoring a larger quantity of regular-season games instead of focusing on how to maintain the highest possible quality of games in a calendar year. Especially considering how many complaints there have been this season about the current NBA product.