NBA commissioner Adam Silver was asked what's the "wildest" adjustment the league could make to change to the current format of games on Wednesday, and he gave a surprising answer while admitting it was not under serious consideration.
Silver appeared on the Dan Patrick Show where he was asked at the 15-minute mark about the "wildest" adjustments to the league that have been considered. The NBA commissioner revealed there were previously discussions about giving two free throws to a player who was fouled on a three-point attempt before admitting he's a "fan" of a basketball game with four, 10-minute quarters.
"Something else that I'm a fan of, and I'm probably in the minority, as we get more involved in global basketball, the NBA is the only league that plays 48 minutes," Silver said. "I am a fan of four, 10-minute quarters. I'm not sure that many others are."
"I mean, putting aside what it means for records and things like that, I think that a two-hour format for a game is more consistent with modern television habits," he added. "People in arenas aren't asking us to shorten games, but I think as a television program, Olympic basketball is two hours, college basketball is, of course, 40 minutes."
Though nothing is in the works, Silver also admitted shortening the length of quarters would be a "dramatic change to the game" that must be discussed "over time."
Silver's overarching thinking appears to be finding ways to turn the NBA into a more appealing product by aligning with "modern television habits," which seem to prefer shorter games. The MLB have seemingly proven that theory with the implementation of the pitch clock.
According to AP, the average time of an MLB game has dropped to two hours and 36 minutes, the lowest in just over four decades. Since the start of the pitch clock era, attendance is up 11 percent and viewership among the 18-34 age group has increased by 10.5 percent.