Jake Yono

JY Journalism

3/5/25

The NBA Must Shorten Its Season

As discussed in my previous articles, one of the main reasons I’m not an enthusiastic NBA fan is the way the league has allowed the NFL to take over its most valuable regular-season day—Christmas. The NBA failed to put up much of a fight to maintain its dominance on that day, and that’s just one example of the problems I see with the league. Another significant issue is the NBA’s 82-game regular season. The sheer length of the season makes many games feel meaningless in terms of playoff positioning, and the addition of a play-in tournament only exacerbates the problem. In my view, if the NBA wants to increase its popularity and ensure more meaningful games, it needs to address these issues.

The 82-game season is simply too long, but the league continues with it mainly for the revenue generated from TV contracts and sponsorships. From a business standpoint, the NBA is less concerned with basketball itself and more focused on generating revenue. A key example of why the 82-game season is excessive comes from the 2023-2024 season. From December onward, when the playoff picture began to take shape, only four teams fluctuated in and out of the play-in and playoff picture. Out of these, only one change occurred in the Eastern Conference (the Atlanta Hawks). This meant that for nearly five months, the playoff positions remained mostly static with minimal drama. In comparison, sports like the NFL or MLB have a more engaging playoff system, where higher seeds earn bye weeks and there is more competition for those spots. The NBA, however, just has 8 teams per conference and a play-in tournament. This setup fails to incentivize teams to fight for top spots, as even slight drops in performance don’t necessarily hurt their chances. A shift in the playoff structure could help resolve this. To address this, I propose a more competitive playoff format, perhaps borrowing from the NFL’s seven-team structure. In this format, the top seeds of each conference would automatically advance, and the league would benefit from additional drama and competition as teams strive to secure a coveted top spot. This would not only make the regular season more meaningful but also encourage teams to play harder throughout the season. The current playoff structure simply doesn’t align with the number of games played. Reducing the regular season and adjusting the playoff format would restore some balance.

Now that we’ve established that the season is too long, let’s look at ways to reduce it. While TV contracts and sponsorships are a key source of revenue for the NBA, there are alternative ways to address the loss of income if the season were shortened. One potential solution is for the NBA to invest in the Overtime Elite League. This league has already produced high-caliber players such as Amen and Ausar Thompson, Rob Dillingham, and Alexandre Starr—all of whom were top 10 draft picks. As the Overtime Elite League continues to grow, more high school players might opt for it over college basketball. The league is already sending players into the NBA, and its growth could help the NBA scout talent earlier and reduce some of the pressure to keep the 82-game season. As for the format of a shortened season, I have a clear proposal. In the current 82-game setup, teams play 16 games against division rivals (2 home and 2 away), 36 games against other teams in their conference (4 games against 6 teams and 3 games against the other 4), and 30 games against teams from the other conference (2 games per team). This totals 82 games. I propose a simple alternative: reduce the season to 58 games by playing 1 home game and 1 away game against every team in the league, which would result in a total of 58 games. Alternatively, the league could increase divisional games to 4 per team, which would make the season total 66 games, but I believe the 58-game schedule is the most efficient. Reducing the season to 58 games would shorten the NBA calendar by approximately two months, bringing the total length of the season down to four and a half months instead of the current six and a half months. This would not only create a more compact and exciting schedule, but it could also lead to more engaged viewership. When every game matters, players are more likely to play at their best, and fans are more likely to tune in to see high-stakes basketball.

To conclude, the NBA must consider implementing changes to make its season more engaging for both fans and players. The current system, which has been in place for over 40 years, is outdated and leads to too many meaningless games. The play-in tournament, while well-intentioned, only adds to the issue by giving teams who have struggled for 82 games another chance. If the NBA were to shorten the season to about 18 weeks, the same length as the NFL season, it would bring more focus and excitement to each matchup, much like the NFL does. While the NBA may be reluctant to make such drastic changes, it is clear that these adjustments could significantly improve the fan experience and the quality of the product on the court. My goal is to help the NBA adapt and evolve, and I hope these suggestions can spark the conversation toward a better, more engaging league. Thank you.