Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
The NBA’s regular season schedule has been a topic of heavy debate among fans, analysts, and players over the course of the last few years. There is no doubt that 82 regular-season games for each team cause a lot of wear and tear on the players’ bodies.
Some have suggested that the NBA regular season should be shortened to avoid injuries. Veteran forward Andre Iguodala has recently expressed disagreement towards that notion on his Point Forward podcast, claiming that it “separates the men from the boys”. (1:00 a.m.)
“We gonna keep playing 82 games until 3005. We can’t change 82 games. Eighty-two games … there’s a mental side of it. That’s why we talk about rookie wall. Records are made to be broken, and as we get better over time we’ll break more records. But I do think that there’s a foundation in all sports, you have to carry on that tradition… 82 games, I do think you know it separates the men from the boys.
“The bottom of our league is the bar for the bare minimum the NBA player has lowered. I think that needs to change and part of this is the mental side of it. We’re getting younger and younger, but we had grown ass men playing in the league. I mean, John Stockton missed what 15 games over 20 years.”
It is clear that a lot of older players and former players have a similar stance on this issue. Grant Hill previously expressed similar sentiments to Andre Iguodala, pointing out that “the season is supposed to be hard”.
“It’s almost like I was telling somebody the other day, okay, now we’re gonna change marathons because it’s so hard to run a marathon. So we’re going to stop a marathon every day after one mile, and we’re going to rest, we’re gonna eat, we’re gonna sleep, and we’re gonna resume the next day. So instead of doing a marathon in a day we’re gonna do it over 25 days because it’s too hard.
“Like no, the season is supposed to be hard. And part of the challenge is to stay healthy and build some toughness to be in this situation you’re in now where you’re in the playoffs and in the finals. So I reluctantly embrace the workload, but shorten the season? No, I have an issue with that.”
The 2022-23 NBA schedule will remain at 82 games, but there’s still a chance the league will end up shortening it at some point in the future. There are definitely some benefits to doing so.
However, Andre Iguodala and Grant Hill do make valid points, and the regular season is supposed to be tough on both the mind and the body. Players being able to play consistently and be durable matters. There are pros and cons for both sides of the argument, and perhaps the league will find a solution to reduce injuries without shortening the regular season schedule.
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