Draymond GreenForward, Golden State Warriors

Should the NBA Shorten the Season to 72 Games? Draymond Green Weighs In

16 Mar 2026 · 1 min

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0:58

In this YouTube monologue, Warriors forward Draymond Green argues that the NBA should reduce its 82‑game schedule by about ten games, bringing the season down to roughly 72 games. He cites the modern "pace and space" style of play, which is significantly faster than in the 1990s, leading to greater player fatigue, injuries, and a decline in the quality of competition when tired teams face each other. Green acknowledges the commercial realities that make shortening the season difficult: TV contracts, arena ownership, and the need to fill dates for revenue. While he doubts the league will make the change soon, he stresses that the issue will worsen as the game continues to accelerate, and he believes that fewer games would result in a healthier, more competitive product.

Chapters

We need to take 10 games off the schedule. The modern game with the pace and space, I think it would be a lot more competitive and healthier league if we play fewer games. There is a lot of games. Things are different. And I know everybody look at it like, oh man, they used to play 82 games all those years ago. Like they, man, they used to walk the ball up the floor. Like the pace that the game was played at now and the pace that the game was played at in the '90s is like drastically different. Like the fastest paced team in the '90s would probably be the slowest paced team today. Like it, it is drastically different. And so the game has changed and the reality is it's just It's too many games, but no one's taking less money. The TV rights are sold. Just about every team own an arena. They need to fill these nights in these arenas. So you need dates. And so I don't think that's going anywhere, but I think that's going to continue to be a problem, especially as the game gets faster and faster because the product ultimately just gets dumbed down, I think, in my opinion, when you just got tired guys playing against tired guys, injured teams playing against injured teams. You know, they say less is more, right? Mm-hmm.