Warriors' Steve Kerr Continues Push for Shorter NBA Schedule to Create 'More Competitive' League

The modern version of the NBA is arguably the most physically demanding the sport has ever been given the trend of playing at a breakneck pace and the athleticism and strength of the athletes involved.

That has led to an influx of injuries for prominent players and even more calls for a shortened regular season. Count Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr among those in favor of the latter.

"I know this won't be a popular opinion in the league office, but I will continue to say it because it's obvious we need to play fewer games," he told reporters Monday. "We need to take 10 games off the schedule. I think it would be great for the league. And I get it, it's revenue and you'd have to get everyone to agree to take a little less money. And that's a really hard thing to do. But what I know about the league, about coaching, about how hard it is to play the modern game with the pace and the space, I think it would be a more competitive and healthier league if we played fewer games."

Kerr has banged on this drum before.

"We should be playing fewer games," he told reporters in April 2025. "Everyone knows that. But it's a money issue. How many of the constituents are willing to take less money?"

Reducing the overall games would do a few things. It would allow the NBA to significantly reduce back-to-backs, or even potentially eliminate them entirely. Back-to-backs put a lot of stress on players, costing them a day of recovery time between games.

It also would make it less necessary for teams to find points on the schedule to sit their star players for load management purposes, a practice that fans—and executives in the league office—don't like since it could mean purchasing a ticket for a game that a superstar sits out.

It could also potentially limit the amount of games down the stretch where teams shift to tanking mode, keeping the quality of the product high for a bigger proportion of the season.

So there are a lot of potential benefits. The primary downside—lost revenue—may always supersede them. Take that away, however, and it's clear that a shortened schedule makes a lot of sense.