Under No Circumstance Should League Follow Through On Adam Silver’s Idea Of Shortening Games

Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone called it a “Barnum & Bailey” sort of idea. Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick said it’s a bad idea. New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau came out strongly against it. Are you listening, NBA commissioner Adam Silver?

In case you missed it, Silver went on The Dan Patrick Show and threw out the idea of shortening quarters of NBA games to 10 minutes — down from the 12 minutes they are today. They have also been 12 minutes since the NBA became a thing way back in 1947.

Silver cited “viewer habits.” As in, no one is watching full games. Or at least not enough people. That’s really the only reason we can think of — but it’s not a reason to mess with the clock.

So please, Mr. Commissioner. Toss this idea where it belongs. And that would be the trash.

Silver is a good man. Honest. I’ve spoken to him. He means well. You can count on him to always have the best interest of the NBA in mind. None of these things are up for debate.

But shortening quarters is a terrible idea. And that’s the nice version. I’m not about to type out what I thought when I first heard it. This is a PG-13 website, after all.

Sam is NOT a fan of shortening the quarter length.

"I don't think that will ever go through, thankfully. It's a terrible idea."

– @AmicoHoops pic.twitter.com/Tlz7HNIdsx

— Full Court Cleveland (@FullCourtCLE) January 31, 2025

For starters, viewers aren’t going to be any more prone to tune in to watch games if they’re 40 minutes, as opposed to 48. Seriously. Does anyone sit around and think, “Well, I’d check out what the Knicks are doing, but I really need those extra eight minutes. So I’m not watching at all.”

Granted, there are other reasons that Silver may have thrown this out there. He may have heard it from a team owner whose opinion he really values. Or maybe some network exec said something about it. The timing of Silver’s comments sure is peculiar — given how the NBA just landed a new media rights deal.

Anyway, you can’t do it. The reasons why are an entire column. A different column. But you can start with history. You suddenly would have to start two separate eras of NBA basketball. The first 77 years of the league would be one era. Silver’s reign would then be an era until itself.

Don’t mess with success. You just got a massive media rights deal. Apparently, the networks forking over all those big bucks like the NBA as is. So if you change anything, bring back some rules that allow more defense (especially on the perimeter).

But don’t take eight minutes away from us. Heck, most people are rooting for five more — as in, overtime.

You’ve had some good ideas, Commissioner Silver. You’ve had a few whiffs, too. We can live with those. But shortening games would be unforgivable. Don’t do it. Exclamation point. That’s it. Have a good night.