Dear Adam Silver, Please Keep This Schedule
As I type this out I look at the calender and see “June 11” staring back at me. And its beautiful. Not because I’m a massive fan of summer, but because Im a sports fan. On June 11th we’ve JUST started the second round of the NBA playoffs and because of it were looking at the NBA finals ending in late July. the gap between basketball and football is shrinked so much because of the schedule the NBA adopted for the 2020-2021 season. But the NBA, and commissioner Adam Silver, is about to undo all that good by reverting back to the old format.
Sources: Key dates for the 2021-22 NBA season:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 10, 2021
Sept. 28: Training camp starts
Oct. 19: Regular season starts
April 16: Playoffs start
June 2: Finals Game 1
June 19: Finals Game 7
June 23: 2022 NBA Draft
Frankly, this sucks. Anthony Gargano was the first person I heard propose the Christmas day start time for the NBA season, and I was hesitant because I usually dont like change. But now that I am living it, and I have another option other than watching Joe Girardi botch another decision, I love it. Yet the NBA is just hell bent on shoving a square peg into a round hole.
Did the old NBA schedule work? Yes! of course. Could it be better? Yes! and it is! This, what were currently in, is better. Not just for the sports fan, but for the NBA. Because by starting in October the NBA is battling for eye balls with MLB post season, the NHL playoffs, and a little thing called “The NFL.” By starting on Christmas the NBA would also be competing with these leagues but when the season is coming down to the wire they’re just competing with baseball. And bad baseball is an easy thing to turn off.
This is also setting up for yet another shortened offseason for those teams that are going to be playing deep into the playoffs. And for what? To get back on track? A track that can easily be altered. As a sports fan, I beg you Adam Silver, alter the course. Keep this format. Start on Christmas day. Because the fact that we are focused on NBA playoff action and not the anemic Phillies offense and Eagles mini-camp right now is such a breath of fresh air. Keep the Christmas day start time.
