The NBA is considering making alterations to the current 82-game schedule as well as possibly adding a mid-season tournament similar to that in soccer, according to ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz.
The major change would make “load management” harder for teams to accomplish as every game becomes more valuable. Fans around the league were bothered by the Raptors continuing to rest their star player throughout the regular season.
Kawhi Leonard, following the team’s conference finals victory, admitted to the media that he would not have been able to anchor the championship run without the load management philosophy. (RELATED: Marc Gasol Drinks Wine During Toronto Raptors Championship Parade)
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Adam Silver has already made several changes to the league including adding advertisements to jerseys and changing the draft lottery to discourage tanking by the league’s worst teams. These changes would make their way to the NBA, if accepted, by the 2021-2022 season and would include a 58-game season.
I think we can all agree that the season needs to be shortened. There is nothing more frustrating than waiting for the playoffs to begin because the Magic and the Pistons battle for the seventh seed while everyone else is already clinched.
That is an absolute snooze-fest.
The mid-season tournament is where I draw the line. If this change is made it will certainly be a mistake by the league’s commissioner. Silver has outwardly expressed his love for soccer and the way they do things, but the NBA is not soccer – it’s better.
If the tournament is included in the plan, it defeats the purpose of the shortened schedule entirely. Will the players even care if it’s not the NBA Finals?
A ton of questions must be answered by Silver before this plan is put into place.
