One of the main goals for NBA commissioner Adam Silver going into the 2015-16 NBA Season was to make some changes in the schedule that could help the future of the league and its players. Health has to be at the top of the list with both teams and their officials and one of the quick fixes could be a change in the schedule.
For a long time, the one issue that players, coaches and executives have all brought up the issue of playing four games in five nights. It’s tiring and by time they played that final game, the players bodies have already been drained and the level of competition drops.
Now it appears that going into next season, the 2015-16 NBA Schedule will be eliminating the four-games-in-five-nights trend.
Following from Zach Lowe of Grantland.
Draft of NBA schedule circulating among teams. Sources say 4-games-in-5-nights nearly eliminated in that draft version.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) August 3, 2015
The following charts, courtesy of Dan Feldman of NBC Pro Basketball Talk, illustrates the four-games-in-five-nights trend in the NBA, over the history of the league and also specifically within the last 20 years.
It is an issue and sometimes the product on the court isn’t up to par for what the NBA wants to present. Will it eliminate all of the NBA’s injury issues with their stars like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose? That might not be an actual measurable statistic but with the adjustments to the 2015-16 NBA season, there may be a decrease in players missing games due to rest or injury. Time to get things right before the new TV and memorabilia deals goes into effect.
