Why does the NBA play 82 games?

The 82-game schedule dates back to the 1967-68 NBA season

The NBA has long adhered to 82-game regular season schedule, though how much longer the traditional slate will stay in place remains a matter of debate.

The 82-game schedule began during the 1967-68 NBA season, when the league added two teams. The addition of the San Diego Rockets and the Seattle SuperSonics gave the NBA a total of 12 teams.

NBA officials opted to have each franchise to play other teams in their conference eight times a season and teams outside their conference seven times each season. Under that framework, each team played 82 games per season for the first time.

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The NBA has since expanded to 30 franchises, and the 82-game format has remained intact. The regular season typically begins in late October and runs through mid-April.

An 82-game schedule can be a grueling workload for NBA players, especially stars who rarely leave the court. As a result, many teams and prominent players have turned to the controversial practice of “load management,” or selective rest throughout the season to preserve stars for the playoffs.

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The NBA has sought to crack down on load management, to varying degrees of success. But with questions about the workload abound and television ratings stagnant, league officials are considering a tweak to the schedule format.

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In April 2019, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver indicated that the league would “continue to look at” the possibility of a shorter season.

One possibility could include the creation of an in-season tournament, according to multiple reports in December 2019. A league-backed proposal would shorten the regular season to 78 or 79 to accommodate the midseason event, which would offer players on the winning team $1 million each in prize money.

The proposal would have to be approved by a two-thirds majority of NBA owners before it could be implemented.

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