Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr reiterated Monday that he believes the NBA would benefit from reducing its regular-season schedule from the traditional 82 games. Kerr said trimming roughly 10 games from the calendar could improve the overall quality of play and the competitiveness of the league. His comments are consistent with views he has shared previously about how the length and physical demands of the current schedule affect players and teams over the course of a season.
Kerr pointed to the cumulative toll that an 82-game schedule can take on players, noting that the pace, travel, and intensity of modern NBA basketball place significant demands on athletes’ bodies. In his view, fewer regular-season games could lead to better-rested players, which in turn might result in sharper execution, more sustained effort, and higher-level competition from the opening tip of the season through the playoffs.
The Warriors coach, who has experience both as a player and as a coach on championship teams, has long advocated for ways to balance entertainment value with player health and performance. While he did not lay out a specific proposal for how the league would restructure the schedule, his reference to playing 10 fewer games suggests something closer to a low-70s game count. Kerr has previously connected the length of the season to issues such as injuries, load management decisions, and nights when key players are rested.
Kerr’s stance fits into a broader, ongoing conversation around the NBA about player availability and long-term health. Teams and the league have experimented with measures to address these concerns, including adjustments to back-to-back games, travel routines, and scheduling patterns. Kerr’s latest remarks suggest he believes a more direct solution would be to reduce the total number of regular-season games rather than simply rearranging them.
While Kerr’s perspective reflects a coach’s and former player’s view of the grind of an 82-game season, any change to the league’s longstanding schedule format would involve many stakeholders and complex considerations. Issues such as revenue, broadcast agreements, arena dates, and historical comparisons all factor into discussions about the length of the season. Kerr, however, made clear that, from a basketball standpoint, he sees a shorter schedule as a path to a stronger product on the court.
His renewed comments keep the topic of season length in the spotlight as the NBA continues to weigh how best to balance competition, player wellness, and the overall fan experience over the long haul of each campaign.
