Despite the gigantic, multi-billion dollar media deal the league signed with its broadcast partners over the summer, the buzz this season has been about the NBA's alleged ratings problem. With substandard viewership over the first half of the season and many loud complaints about the style of play commissioner Adam Silver has been asked on multiple occasions what the league is considering to "fix" the problems fans seem to have with the current version of basketball.
On Wednesday Silver was asked by Dan Patrick on the Dan Patrick Show for the wildest ideas that have been discussed in NBA offices as they try to improve the game, and Silver took the opportunity to make the case for a change he feels would be beneficial: shorter games in the form of 10-minute quarters.
"Something else that I'm a fan of, and I'm probably in the minority, as we get more involved in global basketball the NBA is the only league that plays 48 minutes," Silver told Patrick. "I am a fan of four 10-minute quarters. I'm not sure that many others are. Putting aside what it means for records and things like that. I think a two-hour format for a game is more consistent with modern television habits. People in arenas aren't asking us to shorten the game, but being as a television program: two hours, that's Olympic basketball, college basketball of course."
"It's such a dramatic change to the game," Silver continued. "Something like that would be talked more about over time."
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver floats the idea of changing the game from 12 to 10 minute quarters #NBA pic.twitter.com/ymajYHTgi4
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) January 29, 2025
Silver later brought up baseball's pitch clock as a comparison and how much good it's done to shortening the average game.
While this particular rule alteration doesn't sound close to becoming reality, the mere existence of the discussion indicates big change may be coming to the NBA—and soon.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Adam Silver Explains Why He's a Fan of Shortening NBA Games.
