The NBA is considering massive changes to its schedule in upcoming years, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe. The league is discussing a reduction of regular season games, the creation of an in-season tournament, and a change in playoff seeding, with a potential vote on the changes coming in April. According to the report, if the changes are approved, they could be installed for the 2021-22 season.
Joined @JayHarrisESPN to discuss the potential of sweeping changes in the NBA schedule. pic.twitter.com/C8Gn6y8SKD
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 23, 2019
Via ESPN:
“In proposals that include the adoption of in-season tournaments and a postseason play-in, the traditional regular-season schedule would be reduced from 82 games — with most teams scheduled to play 78 or 79 games. There’s a small possibility of a team playing a maximum of 83 games based on possible tournament and play-in scenarios, league sources said. For the in-season tournament, the NBA is focused on 30-team participation that begins with a divisional group stage of scheduled regular-season games.”
There has been a push for revised playoff seeding for years, and by reseeding teams for the conference finals, the NBA could increase the chance that the two best teams in the league meet in the Finals, regardless of conference.
The other proposed changes are more polarizing. It’s likely that the NBA could land huge sponsorship deals for their in-season tournament that would offset the financial losses of a shorter regular season, but it remains to be seen whether fans and players will actively care about a mid-season tournament that has zero real stakes, or whether a minor reduction in total games will solve the NBA’s load management issue.
ESPN reports that Silver’s push for the in-season tournament is inspired by the success of similar tournaments in European soccer – but the proposed NBA tournament doesn’t have the same selling points as the Champions League or FA Cup. The draw of those tournaments is that teams from a given league face off against teams they wouldn’t normally play in their regular season, and in the case of the Champions League, you see the best teams in the world facing off in dream matchups.
The NBA is a closed league, though. Is another Rockets vs. Celtics, or Lakers vs. Bucks matchup in the middle of the year really that compelling? As noted by ESPN, teams that make a deep run in the tournament risk increasing their workload in a given year than the normal 82-game schedule would demand.
Even in Adam Silver’s apparent dream scenario where the in-season tournament becomes incredibly prestigious and every team buys in, the creation of such an event risks exacerbating load management, as teams could work to keep players fresh for the tournament, before repeating the same process leading up to the playoffs.
A reduction of just four games also doesn’t seem likely to keep that have bought into load management strategy from regularly resting. Kawhi Leonard missed 22 of 82 regular-season games last season. Would that number drop significantly with four-fewer regular season games? Fans reacted to the report on social media, and many don’t believe that the NBA needs to mess with a system that isn’t broken.
An in-season tournament that nobody will care about, played by G league call ups, is exactly what we need.
— Dave DuFour (@DaveDuFourNBA) November 23, 2019
Im liking the re-seeding of the "Final "Four" but where Im lost is the benefit of an in-season tournament. What do you win, a cookie? https://t.co/Vb7RtOSHxe
— Vincent Marshall (@vincentmarshall) November 23, 2019
Play-in at end of the season is a good idea. I don’t think reseeding the final four will matter much. In-season tournament? I don’t get that, and don’t see how that isn’t plagued by load management issues. https://t.co/pFSmTmQirL
— Eric Fingerhut (@ericfingerhut) November 23, 2019
Can’t wait for Kawhi to hit the NBA with “load management” during their meaningless in-season tournament https://t.co/IwTS0eGOpK
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) November 23, 2019
every time there’s a rumor that the nba is about to propose something fun like a postseason play-in or a MID SEASON TOURNAMENT weird gatekeepery fans pop up. why? what happened in high school? when’s the last time you laughed just to laugh? eat a taco
— Haley O'Shaughnessy (@HaleyOSomething) November 23, 2019
I definitely think the NBA could use a refreshing of schedule, and even some things in the playoffs, but not all these.
1at round should go back to 5 games for example.
— StreetHistory (Ryan S) (@streethistory) November 23, 2019
[opinary poll=”does-the-nba-need-a-shorter-schedule_for” customer=”forthewin”]
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