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LeBron, Dirk Both Suggest NBA Should Consider Shortening Season Instead Of Games

Cavaliers F LeBron James understands that a shorter schedule would "decrease revenue" for the NBA, but he is a vocal proponent of the idea because "his main concern is for the well being of the players," according to Chris Haynes of the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER. James, when asked about the NBA's 44-minute-game experiment set for Sunday, said, "The minutes don't mean anything. We can play 50-minute games if we had to. ... 82 games are a lot. But it's not the minutes, taking away minutes from the game is not going to shorten the game at all." James: "At the end of the day, we want to protect the prize and the prize is the players. We have to continue to promote the game and if guys are being injured because there are so many games, then we can't promote it at a high level" (CLEVELAND.com, 10/15). In Akron, Jason Lloyd notes James in supporting his position pointed to Pacers F Paul George and Thunder F Kevin Durant, "both of whom are out with injuries." George will miss this season after breaking his leg during a USA Basketball scrimmage and Durant could miss two months after breaking his foot during a team practice. James: "I'm not saying it's because of the (amount of) games, but anything will help" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 10/16).

DON'T IRK DIRK: Mavericks F Dirk Nowitzki yesterday said, "You don't need 82 games to determine the best eight in each conference. That could be done a lot quicker, but I always understand that it's about money, and every missed game means missed money for both parties, for the league, for the owners, for the players. I understand all that, and that's why I don't think it's going to change anytime soon." He added that he "would recommend that regular-season schedules be trimmed from 82 games to the 'mid-60s.'" Nowitzki: "I never was a big fan of back-to-backs even when I was 20 years old. ... You should never have to play at the highest level [when] there is two consecutive nights and flying in between. You obviously make it work. We have the best athletes in the world, we feel, but I think it hurts the product some. Last year, some teams get here for the fourth game in five nights and we've been sitting here on rest and just blow them out. I don't think it's good for the product, but I also understand that 82 games is where it's at. It's a business, and everybody's got to live with it" (ESPNDALLAS.com, 10/15). ESPN’s Mike Golic said, “If you want to play less games, are you willing to take less money? I did some of my simple math again. If you have a $20 million salary and you play 82 games, that's $244,000 a game. Take off 16 games, you take off $4 million off that salary. So that's the question. You can say it all you want until all of a sudden that money is not going in your pocket.” He added, “If the number of games are less, every single network will go back to the NBA and say, ‘We're not paying you as much.’” Golic: “The benefit is maybe the ratings will go up" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 10/16).

MJ JOLTED: ESPN.com's Chris Broussard noted Hornets Owner Michael Jordan "was surprised and a bit bewildered" to hear the comments from James and Nowitzki. Jordan: "I love both of those guys, but as an owner who played the game, I loved playing. If I wasn't playing 82 games, I still would've been playing somewhere else because that's the love for the game I had. As a player, I never thought 82 games was an issue. But if that's what they want to do, we as owners and players can evaluate it and talk about it. But we'd make less money as partners. Are they ready to give up money to play fewer games? That's the question, because you can't make the same amount of money playing fewer games.'' Jordan also "didn't see the point in shortening games by four minutes." Jordan: "I would never shorten the game by four minutes, unless guys were having physical issues" (ESPN.com, 10/15).

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