Nba Games Today: Kerr Urges Cutting 10 Schedule Games
Steve Kerr, head coach of the Golden State Warriors, said the league should “take 10 games off the schedule, ” arguing the modern game’s pace and space make a shorter season healthier and more competitive. The remark, delivered after Monday’s loss to the Utah Jazz, presses a direct choice between player health and the league’s revenue model.
Nba Games Today and Kerr
Kerr declared, “We need to play fewer games. We need to take 10 games off the schedule, ” framing the 10-game reduction as a concrete remedy. He repeated that the modern game’s pace and spacing make the current slate difficult to sustain for players when he spoke after Monday’s loss to the Utah Jazz. The pattern suggests Kerr is treating a fixed numerical cut as a practical lever to change game preparation and recovery windows.
Steve Kerr on Injuries
Kerr said the Warriors’ medical staff believes wear and tear, plus the increased pace and mileage of today’s game, have contributed to an uptick in soft-tissue injuries; he raised the concern again in November. Kerr called a reduced schedule something that would make the league “a more competitive and healthier league, ” tying the medical staff’s observations to his proposal. The pattern suggests Kerr sees a direct connection between schedule length and the medical trends the Warriors staff is tracking.
82-game Season Since 1967-68
Kerr acknowledged that reducing games would not be in the league office’s financial interest and said, “you’d have to get everybody to agree to take a little less money, ” calling that compromise “a really hard thing to do. ” The context notes the NBA has used an 82-game schedule since the 1967-68 season and that only lockout-abbreviated campaigns, 1998-99 and 2011-12, and the COVID-impacted seasons, 2019-20 and 2020-21, were shorter. The figures point to a clear trade-off: the 82-game format is an entrenched revenue foundation stretching back to 1967-68, so any cut would require owners and the league office to accept reduced income to change the on-court product.
What remains unresolved is whether the league office and team owners will agree to a shorter schedule and accept less revenue; Kerr himself said getting “everybody to agree to take a little less money” is difficult. If the league office and owners do not consent to reduce the schedule, the data Kerr cites from Warriors’ medical staff and his repeated statements suggest teams will keep facing the same pace-related injury patterns without structural change.
