David Stern hints NBA will consider a shortened season in future – NBA Update
Even with all the injuries to the star players like Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose, it is a fact that this 66 game NBA season has seen unprecedented success, so much so, that the NBA Commissioner David Stern has indicated that
the league might consider it in future;
"We're going to certainly look at it and raise the issue with the owners," Stern said in an interview on "Rome" on CBS Sports Network.
The commish however was quick to point out the difficulties attached with such a proposal;
"The reason you don't make it a shorter year is because of the infrastructure that's been built,” said Stern. “You have all of the buildings that have been selling an 82-game schedule. You have these local TV deals. You have these
network TV deals. So, we'd have to negotiate with our players to take 20 percent less every year on the salaries that they're getting. That is a problem."
NBA has at present every deal, with players, media or arenas, based on an 82 game itinerary and we already know how much time the league took to negotiate the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the players. So, convincing
the owners to go through that pain again just to back up a new innovation, which was itself a by-product of a 149 day lockout will be a huge task.
Secondly, many analysts believe that the rash of injuries that have taken place in the post season are a direct result of a jam-packed regular season, in which every team had to play 2 extra games per month on average. Although,
there is no concrete evidence to prove this fact, but given the toll it has taken on teams like the Chicago Bulls (Rose and Joakim Noah) and New York Knicks (Iman Shumpert and Baron Davis), it is highly unlikely that the owners and the support staff at the
franchises will be willing to risk it.
There is also an issue of keeping the fan base attracted and increase the viewership. The response to this NBA season was so good because the fans were literally starved of basketball during the elongated off season, but will it
be the same if the regular season is squeezed from five to three months, is a question that the league will have to answer before taking any decision.
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