Adam Silver Dismisses Idea of Shortening NBA Season, 'I Don't Really See the Benefit'

As injuries pile up and stars take games off to rest, there's been plenty of speculation about the NBA shortening its 82-game season.

But league commissioner Adam Silver made it clear on Thursday that he has no interest in shortening the season.

"I don't really see the benefit to reducing the number of games," Silver told reporters before the first game of the NBA Finals. "People used to say you should reduce the number of games because it will lead to a reduction of injuries... If that were the case, you'd think you'd have more injuries in April than in October, we don't see that. Or you'd think you'd see more injuries in the playoffs than you do in the regular season, but we don't see that either."

While there's limited data to show whether a shorter season would prevent injuries, a study from ESPN in 2021 found that injuries were actually up during the COVID-19 shortened season in 2020. The average number of players sidelined per game due to injury, non-COVID-19 illness or rest that year was 5.1, the highest it had been since ESPN began tracking the numbers in 2009-10.

Of course, the NBA season in 2020 was unlike any other year in league history, so permanently shortening the season could turn out differently.

On a non-injury note, Silver added that shortening the season would take away chances for fans to see their favorite teams and players in action.

"Another way of looking at the length of the season, you think in terms of serving the fans," Silver said. "It's more opportunities for fans to go to games and to watch games."

Silver mentioned that one way to negate some of the issues that come with the 82-game season would be lengthening the time of the season, either starting earlier in the year or running later into the year.

That could eliminate some of the back-to-back games, potentially leading to fewer injuries. Fewer back-to-back games would, perhaps, motivate fan-favorite players to avoid missing games due to rest since they wouldn't have to play two nights in a row.

Whether Silver and the NBA will make any tweaks to the season remains to be seen, but it appears the 82-game schedule is here to stay for now.