Why does the NBA play 82 games?
The 82-game schedule dates back to the 1967-68 NBA season
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The NBA has long adhered to 82-game regular season schedule, though how much longer the traditional slate will stay in place remains a matter of debate.
The 82-game schedule began during the 1967-68 NBA season, when the league added two teams. The addition of the San Diego Rockets and the Seattle SuperSonics gave the NBA a total of 12 teams.
NBA officials opted to have each franchise to play other teams in their conference eight times a season and teams outside their conference seven times each season. Under that framework, each team played 82 games per season for the first time.
The NBA has since expanded to 30 franchises, and the 82-game format has remained intact. The regular season typically begins in late October and runs through mid-April.
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An 82-game schedule can be a grueling workload for NBA players, especially stars who rarely leave the court. As a result, many teams and prominent players have turned to the controversial practice of “load management,” or selective rest throughout the season to preserve stars for the playoffs.
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The NBA has sought to crack down on load management, to varying degrees of success. But with questions about the workload abound and television ratings stagnant, league officials are considering a tweak to the schedule format.
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In April 2019, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver indicated that the league would “continue to look at” the possibility of a shorter season.
One possibility could include the creation of an in-season tournament, according to multiple reports in December 2019. A league-backed proposal would shorten the regular season to 78 or 79 to accommodate the midseason event, which would offer players on the winning team $1 million each in prize money.
The proposal would have to be approved by a two-thirds majority of NBA owners before it could be implemented.