Sixers

Adam Silver Reportedly Likes the Idea of Cutting NBA Games to 40 Minutes

By Matt Schultz

Published: Nov 4th, 2026 · 10:03 AM EST

---

Discussing the NBA’s injury crisis with Rachel Nichols on Monday’s Open Floor podcast, Chris Mannix mentioned that Adam Silver likes the idea of cutting games down to 40 minutes to limit wear and tear on players’ bodies, and I have been sitting here at my desk fuming since I heard it:

Adam Silver reportedly likes the idea of cutting NBA games to 40 minutes, per @SIChrisMannix 👀 (Via @SInow) https://t.co/YFNHmmYJzI

— NBABase (@TheNBABase) November 3, 2026

Transcribed:

MANNIX: “To me I would start with the preseason.”

NICHOLS: “That’s a great solution. I totally agree with you. I think you’re on the right track.”

MANNIX: “Like fundamentally, you’re not just — to go back, I actually think Adam Silver, from what I’ve heard, he likes the idea of 40-minute games. I mean, Adam’s a globalist when it comes to basketball. But, um, I just don’t see financially how it’s feasible. And I also think like I said, um, it’s not going to affect the minutes of stars. You’re just gonna see bench guys get more and more marginalized, to the point where teams are like, ‘We don’t need a 15-man rotation or a —”

NICHOLS: “Right.”

MANNIX: “‘We just need like 10 guys. We’ll keep a bunch of roster spots open,’ or whatever. Um, I don’t think that’s reasonable… Reduced number of games is not reasonable either. We’ll see, but I think something — something has to be done. This is bad. And I think you’d rather be proactive than reactive, and you get all these problems that are happening right now, um, it definitely hurts the game cause when you — people are paying tickets to watch stars. It’s the most star-driven league of the four major sports. And uh, not seeing stars is a big problem for the NBA.”

I don’t even know where to start with this. Every part of this clip was maddening. Every part of this entire discourse is maddening. The idea that people around the league are wracking their brains trying to figure out how to prevent these catastrophic injuries from happening is ridiculous. The one and only way to cut down on the copious amounts of brutal lower-body injuries we’re seeing in the NBA is to shorten the season. We all know this. Children know this. The very elderly know this. Everyone on the planet understands what has to be done. Any other pitch or idea that isn’t “shorten the damn season, you greedy dipshits” is dumb as hell, will not work, and is disingenuous anyway. This is some phony bullshit!

Adam Silver knows cutting the games to 40 minutes would not do a thing. This would be a band-aid to put over bad optics, nothing more — which is the Adam Silver special! He never actually fixes anything! At every turn, Adam’s one and only goal has been to make unflattering narratives go away so the NBA and its owners can continue printing as much cash as humanly possible, all without giving a damn about the actual product on the floor.

He did it with tanking! (Pretended to care, put in some bullshit guardrails that won’t do anything.)

He did it with load management! (Pretended to care, put in bullshit 65-game limits on NBA awards to prevent it; stars are still sitting out.)

He’s doing it with competitive balance! (Pretends to care, put in the second apron rules, then turns around and pushes for expansion, a move literally no one is asking for that would dilute the league’s talent pool and make for worse viewing.)

And now he’s doing it (reportedly) with injury prevention. And I, for one, will not sit idly by and let this shit slide…

Also, let’s say the games were shortened to 40 minutes. You know the ticket prices wouldn’t go down. The games wouldn’t have less commercials. Parking wouldn’t cost less. Concessions wouldn’t cost less. The only thing that would be lessened is what the fans actually want: a basketball game to watch.

Adam Silver sucks. He does not care about good basketball; he cares about making owners more money. I hope this tirade made sense. I am tired. Make the season 70 games, you cowards…