The NBA's Silver Lining to COVID-19

When the NBA suspended its season on March 11th, most of the dialogue surrounding the news was about a possible restart to the season in two weeks. Today is May 1st and the league has just begun to take steps towards a restart, possibly in Las Vegas or Orlando. While the pandemic has obviously been a disaster for everyone on every level, an optimistic perspective on the matter can still be formed in regards to the sports calendar.

Prior to the season’s suspension, the NBA’s suddenly declining ratings was a consistent topic in sports media as many wondered if the league’s lengthy schedule was to blame. TV talking heads took all opportunities to criticize the 82 game season and their concerns were valid. In terms of American viewership, the NBA will never surpass the NFL with an 82 game season. As many have noted, fewer games creates higher stakes within each game and the average sports fan will always choose to watch a regular season NFL game over a NBA alternative. This is a legitimate problem given the fact that the first 4 months of basketball conflicts with football.

Recent reports have suggested that the NBA may restart its season in late June or early July with the next season beginning in December. I’d like to think that this would greatly benefit the league moving forward as they’d skip over the highly congested months of October and November. Most NBA executives have known that a shortened season of 50-60 games could do wonders for ratings and ticket sales. However, I doubt that a decision to actually approve it would have ever happened without such a unique situation. Despite all of the horrors caused by the COVID-19 crisis, basketball culture could see it as a heavily veiled blessing in disguise that may lead to basketball taking football’s place as the most popular sport in America. I’ve hypothesized about this concept long before the idea of a schedule change was in play. The conclusion I came to was that the NBA will be perpetually stuck in 2nd place until they:

1. Abolish conferences

2. Shorten the season to 58 games (each team plays twice)

3. Play during the summer and end before football in August

This radical change would be jarring at first but baseball is significantly less threatening as an opponent than the shield itself in the NFL. Listen, this article isn’t my best work and I know that. It was written on extremely short notice and upon review just doesn’t have that vibe that others on the website have. Regardless, I’m still very passionate about the topic of changing the NBA and in turn, the national sports cycle. Over the next 3 Fridays, Basketball Beeswax will be covering a 16 year old’s ideas for how one of the most successful sports leagues in the world could better present itself. Stay tuned.