The NBA prides itself for the prestiguous level of play and physical toughness it provides. The step up from college or from another national league is immense; obviously because of the quality of basketball played, but also partly due to its often overwhelming physical demands.
48 minute games. 3 or 4 games a week. 82 games a season. The NBA stands at the top of worlwide basketball hierachy, so it does things differently. As the commercial says, its ‘where amazing happens’, and it is ‘BIG’. Sometimes maybe too much so…
Behind the bright lights of the front stage, the huge dunks, the game winners and the packed arenas, a huge issue tends to be neglected: Injuries. And its time to do something about it.
Breathtaking superstars, exciting talents and critical team leaders are too often having to sit out due to some sort of physical damage. Broken limbs, torn ACLs, painful hamstrings, dodgy shoulders. Its a simple as this: the NBA is asking too much of its stars, who represent millions of dollars on and off the court- Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose and Marc Gasol are the first examples to come to mind, standing out from a crowd of many. Too many.
Time for change. For a solution. It is, however, unthinkable to change the sacred number, or length, of games, but it is vers easy so stretch them out over longer. The NBA season may contain many games, but not many months. It would not be complicated for the season to start 3 weeks earlier and end 3 weeks later. That would make teams have to play 2 to 3 games a week, which is much more sensible.
As a result of this, it is obvious that injuries will be less frenquent, thanks to more rest time and reduced physical demands. Fewer players sitting out of games, more stars on the court, more great basketball.
But this change would not only benefit the NBA due to it reducing injuries; financially it would create a huge boost. Right now, there are a lot of games every night, at a guess probably an average of seven. Stretching the season over longer would mean more nights with basketball matches, so television and radio rights would be sold for more, as well as avoiding the frustrating feeling that many fans have when 2 very interesting matches are played simultaneously.
In addition to this, the NBA doesn’t always succeed in filling arenas every night. Why? Let me give a scenario: You are a very commited fan of an NBA team, and you endeavour to attend most home games. Unfortunately, work and daily duties makes it impossible for you to watch 4 games a week. This scenario is what stops the vast majority of basketball fans coming to all home games. This problem doesn’t exist in other sports such as football and baseball, because games are much more spread out. If the NBA season was stretched over a longer period, without such a long break in the summer, attendance would be much higher.
For the good of the players, the fans, the association and business partners, its time to stretch the NBA season over a longer period.
For the latest sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
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