NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said multiple times over the past several months that the league intended to address the issue of teams resting star players. It appears the league is doing its part to make changes by altering the schedule for the upcoming season.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the NBA collaborated with the players’ union on the scheduling process to help make things more friendly towards the players.
Among the many changes for the upcoming season’s schedule include:
– the elimination of four games in five days and 18 games in 30 days
– the reduction of instances of five games in seven nights
– the reduction in the amount (and travel distance) of one-game road trips
– the reduction in the amount of back-to-back games for teams
Two things the league did to make these scheduling changes possible was begin the season a week earlier and allow for more weekend games.
The hope is that the improvements in the schedule should cause less wear-and-tear for players, helping them to stay healthy, fresher, and eliminating the need for them to skip games — especially high-profile national TV ones.
