With the NBA trying its first experiment this weekend with a 44-minute game (chopping 4 minutes off a regular 48-minute game), Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel says it’s the wrong solution. Everybody knows the real goal is to not wear out these elite athletes and to keep them free from injury. The 82 game regular season schedule is the culprit here, not the 48 minute game.
Endurance sports exist for those who want them. But seeing the airborne artists of the NBA practice endurance over 82 games isn’t what the average fan wants. (Diehards may feel differently.) The league can’t cut the schedule because every game is an opportunity for revenue and this is America–you’re not allowed to leave revenue on the table. But chopping minutes is just going to make people unhappy. Vogel give an interesting perspective. “I don’t like it,” he says. Vogel already doesn’t “have enough minutes to get all my guys enough minutes to keep them happy.”
