The advent of the play-in tournament to decide the final two playoff teams in each conference — as well as the addition of the in-season NBA Cup — served their desired purpose to increase interest for both players and fans.
But the latest idea floated by commissioner Adam Silver this week — to reduce the length of each game to 40 minutes — should be a non-starter, even with the league experiencing a dip in TV ratings of as much as 25 percent this season.
Major League Baseball went to seven-inning games for doubleheaders during the 2020 COVID-shortened season and it kept the rule in place the following year before scrapping the idea altogether after it compromised the traditional strategies of a standard nine-inning contest.
Silver’s argument is that 10-minute quarters would closer align the NBA product with both the college game and the international FIBA model, and would shorten games to a more TV-friendly two hours in length. The average length of games is around two hours, 16 minutes this season, according to ESPN, virtually no change from the average of 2:15 over the past 15 seasons.
