With the NBA pushing back hard against teams resting their stars—especially for nationally-televised games—the solution may lie in shortening the regular season.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says he’d be willing to accept a paycut if it helped lighten the load of the grueling, 82-game schedule.
Kerr open to less pay if it meant fewer games https://t.co/QcEM4kAIqg #Mavs #Mavericks pic.twitter.com/6tGvMTWMdS
— ESPNDallas (@ESPNDallas) March 22, 2017
Kerr knows that not everyone would be agreeable to less money, but thinks the League can figure out a way to remedy the situation.
Per ESPN:
“I wouldn’t be opposed to it, even at the expense to my own salary, but it’s something that everyone would have to agree to,” Kerr said before Tuesday night’s 112-87 win over the Dallas Mavericks. “I think even just going down to 75 games, I think that would make a dramatic difference in schedule. Now I don’t see that happening because there is money at stake for everybody.
“I do think this can be remedied though — maybe not remedied — but I think it can be dramatically helped with what the league is already working on for next year and the consideration of geographics when it comes to the schedule.”
“I thought [the Adam Silver memo] was smart,” said Kerr, whose team wrapped up a grueling stretch of schedule with a back-to-back in Minnesota and San Antonio when the Warriors’ stars rested against the Spurs. “I think this is something that every organization needs to partner together with the league and our broadcasting partners and figure out what’s best for everybody. We all have the same interests at heart, which is we need to do what’s best for the league. But there are great arguments on every side.
“I do feel bad for the fans. I also know resting those guys last week was something that was beneficial, and I think it’s shown to be so this past week. You can see our guys are fresher, their legs. So what can we all do, together? And I think that’s where Adam is really good in terms of taking a lot of opinions and finding solutions. This is not a right-or-wrong issue. It’s what can we do to best serve the league, best serve the players’ health. Is there a compromise?
“We’re already working on that by extending the season next year by 7-10 days. I think that’s going to be very helpful, and I think the broadcast partners and the league can pay closer attention to the schedule when it comes out next year as they put that together. These are all things that we all have to work on.”
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