The NBA has all but ruled out the possibility of starting the regular season on Christmas Day indefinitely as has been proposed in the past by Steve Koonin. The only way the league could start the season that late while also ending it in June, which is preferred by their television partners, is to reduce the number of games in the regular season.
"We've looked at other lengths of the regular season, and we will continue to do so," Silver said. "At least based on the evidence from this season, I don't think that's a strong argument to go to fewer regular-season games. And look, it's not a secret, obviously it's a business. That's a reduction in revenue.
"I think the benefit of reducing the number of games ... one, it would go to player health, and see whether a lot of science around that in terms of the amount of rest and the number of minutes and how impactful that is. And the other issue is, you have fewer games. Does it make each game that much more valuable? On the other end of the spectrum, of course, is the NFL, where each game has so much value that, if you're a fan, you're not going to take a game off as a viewer or attending the game. So those are all things we're continuing to look at."
The league will attempt to restart its season in mid-October, allowing The Finals to run until late June.
"We're going to have to do a shorter offseason -- a bit of a shorter offseason -- if we're going to get back on schedule," Silver said. "Because if we start late and then go late again obviously into next summer, this will just continue.
"And we think in terms of fan interest, in terms of what our television partners are telling us, that we're better off completing our Finals by the end of June."
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