NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has pitched the idea of shortening NBA games, during an interview touching on ways to improve the league.
While the standard international basketball game time is 40 minutes, split into 10-minute quarters, the NBA’s games run for 48 minutes, something that Silver said he was a ‘fan’ of addressing.
During the interview, the Commissioner noted changes made to other professional leagues such as the NFL and the MLB, as he spoke about how the NBA seeks to become a truly global league and move in line with international basketball regulations.
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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver pitches radical rule change
Despite being one of the most closely followed sporting leagues on earth, NBA games have oftentimes drawn criticism for their extended run times, due both to their increased length, as well as convoluted end-of-game scenarios which continually stop the clock.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver floats the idea of changing the game from 12 to 10 minute quarters #NBA pic.twitter.com/ymajYHTgi4
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) January 29, 2025
During a recent appearance on the Dan Patrick show, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that one rule change he was in favour of was moving NBA games to 40 minutes, in line with FIBA regulations, down from their current 48-minute runtime.
“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. Putting aside what it means for records and things like that. I think a two-hour format for a game is more consistent with modern television habits.
“People in arenas aren’t asking us to shorten the game, but being as a television program: two hours, that’s Olympic basketball, college basketball of course.”
“It’s such a dramatic change to the game, something like that would be talked more about over time.”
The 40-minute game time is one of a number of FIBA rules that many basketball fans have been pushing the league to adopt, with others including their goal-tending rule which allows players to touch the ball once it has hit the rim, as well as more leniency in terms of foul calls leading to a more free-flowing game.
However, FIBA basketball has also made changes in recent times to more closely allign with the NBA. These include changing the shape of the key to a rectangle from a trapezoid in 2010, while some also believe they should extend the three-point line from its current 6.25 meter (20.5 foot) distance to the NBA’s 7.24 meter (23.7 foot) mark.
