Josh Hart returned to action tonight for the Knicks vs. Warriors game after missing their last two fixtures due to a left knee soreness issue. Steve Kerr, who has been promoting a shorter season due to questions over the quality of the basketball product in the NBA, doubled down on his comments tonight as he further dove into why he believes the NBA should seriously consider shortening the season.
However, Hart was asked about his opinion on Kerr’s comments, and while he was an advocate of doing what Kerr was suggesting, he highlighted a bitter reality of the situation, which was the major hurdle in the execution of Kerr’s suggestions: money.
“Do I think it will probably be better for the game and the quality on the court? I think so. Do I think it will happen? Probably not because everybody is so money-hungry and money-driven. I think everybody puts that above everything else,” said Hart before the game.
Kerr had addressed the money-hungry stakeholders who may not be happy if the league executed his suggestion, which would effectively reduce the revenue generated by each team.
“I’m well aware fewer games would mean less revenue, which means everybody takes a pay cut, and I’m willing to stick my neck out and say I’m all for that because I think the quality of the product is the most important thing. So I don’t say these things flippantly. I say these things because I mean them.”
The Warriors’ head coach pointed to data that he had compared of player speeds and distances run during games as opposed to two or three decades ago, and concluded that the soft tissue injuries have increased largely due to that.
“We have incredible people in this league and great fans. I just want to make sure we give our fans the very, very best product we can and try to satisfy all of our corporate partners,” Kerr further added.
“And I just think there’s probably a way to do that without just completely — I don’t know, ignoring some of the obvious (schedule-related injury) issues we’ve established.”
The Warriors have been one of the biggest victims of a grueling, injury-plagued season this year, as they are currently playing with $193 million, which is a major proportion of their salary cap, sidelined due to various issues. Hence, it makes a lot of sense that Kerr is directing focus on this.
Mark Cuban also recently had a similar opinion to Hart and explained why the entire basketball economy could be impacted by a decision to shorten the season.
“It would require a complete reset of the system, all the way down to the guy working security or the snack stand 41 nights a week in Memphis,” said Cuban on why he believes it is “impossible” for the NBA to shorten the season, no matter how strong the rationale is for it.
In my opinion, the concept of divisions can be done away with, as they effectively do nothing beyond ensuring that teams in each conference play four games in a season against teams in their respective divisions.
The league justifies its basis as a simplification of logistics, but if you think about it, if you do away with the concept of divisions, nothing much effectively changes, except for four fewer games in the season for a franchise.
That should be the first thing they potentially look at if they consider Kerr’s suggestion and have a “meaningful discussion” on shortening the season.
