by Vivek Nadimpalli, staff writer
As the 82 game regular season for the NBA comes to a close, the players on the injured reserve are some of the biggest stars in the NBA including the likes of Marc Gasol and Jahlil Okafor. Many other stars have missed games along the way and others have been sidelined in an attempt to rest their bodies. As injuries have become increasingly common, the topic of whether the regular season should be shortened has come up. Many believe that shortening the season would have its benefits for the health of players and the quality of games, but some people don’t agree.
Personally, I believe that decreasing the number of regular season games would be better for the NBA. Players would be able to play more minutes on a nightly basis, and would be able to get more days to rest in between games. This season, as the playoffs are inching closer, teams have rested many key players including LeBron James, Kevin Love, Demar Derozan, Zach Randolph, and Tim Duncan as well as many others. Coaches motivation to rest players is to preserve their bodies for the playoffs, and this is logical for veterans, but for those who are young to be taking rest, shows that the season is really wearing down players. Rest days are also not fair to the fans who come to see their favorite players, only to have them sit out to rest.
Coaches, players, and former players have all weighed in on the issue and there seems to be different opinions. Los Angeles Clippers all star forward Blake Griffin, who has dealt with multiple injuries this year was one who was vocal about the topic. “Fatigue and injuries, and better product. If you have less games, less back-to-backs, the product’s better. The fans will appreciate it more,” Griffin said. Griffin made an interesting point by saying that college basketball is so different because they are able to play less games in a season, and usually do not play more than two games a week.
On the other hand, players such as Washington Wizards guard John Wall, Warriors forward Draymond Green, and Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried all said that the current setup was alright had different opinions on their reasoning. Green pointed out the idea that more games allow teams to get into rhythm and build momentum as the season goes on, and have a chance to make the playoffs even if they have a bad start. This is a key point because it gives team more of a chance to battle for playoff spots, rather than have them be set half way through the season. Faried said, “Guys before us were playing 20-plus years and they were playing 82 and still being All-Stars and still having big names — Patrick Ewing,Charles Oakley and those guys. So guys who’ve done it before us, they’ve already paved the way, so we just have to follow in their footsteps as much as we can.”
While there are two justifiable arguments, shorter seasons would likely lead to more competitive games and would not allow one team to dominate the league. As the league have not discussed this often, a change many not be likely next season, however it is something that commissioner Adam Silver must eventually consider.