Within the National Basketball Association, it is a long and gruelling season that, at times, can almost feel too long.
With 82 games on the schedule, the NBA is faced with a major challenge: How can they find a way to make the regular season more engaging for fans?
I’m not saying the NBA is in trouble. League-wide attendance and TV ratings remain strong in most markets. However, that doesn’t mean everything is perfect, especially when you look at some of the teams near the bottom of the standings.
So what can the NBA do to make all 82 games feel more important?
New Ideas the NBA Has Tried
To be fair, the NBA has tried different things.
We’ve seen:
- The NBA Cup
- Christmas Day games
- Opening Night matchups
- Rivalry games
- Theme nights
- The Play-In Tournament
Change #1: NBA Games Need to Be Shorter
NBA games take way too long to finish, and there are way too many times when it feels like nothing is happening. The actual basketball isn’t the problem. It’s the stoppages. Teams currently get seven timeouts during regulation, and I think that number needs to come down to three per half.
The final two minutes of a close game can sometimes feel like they take forever. Timeout, foul, free throws, timeout, another foul, and so on and so forth. There’s just too much standing around.
Compare that to something like the CFL. There are also multiple stoppages during the final three minutes, but to me, there is usually more of a sense of urgency.
The NBA needs to keep the game moving. NBA games take about the same amount of time as a football or hockey game, but the game time itself is shorter.
Change #2: Tighten the Salary Cap
This might be my biggest one.
There is too much of a gap between the really good teams and the really bad teams in the NBA.
The NBA averaged around 95% arena capacity during the 2025-26 season. As you can see above, several teams under .500 were well below that number. To me, this shows why having competitive teams matters. If your team isn’t winning, why are fans going to keep spending money to watch? (ESPN, 2026)
Making the salary gap tighter would force teams to spend more money, and this should make teams much better. This should bring more fans into the stands.
Change #3: Create the Four-Point Line
Now, this is an idea people will either love or hate, but creating a four-point line could create a way to bring some new excitement into the NBA.
It could create:
- More long-range attempts
- More missed shots and rebounds
- More fast-break opportunities
- More late-game comeback opportunities
- Another strategy coaches have to think about
Imagine being down 10 points with a minute left and still having a legitimate chance to come back.
It could also stretch the defence even further. Do you defend someone 30-plus feet from the basket or take your chances and let them shoot?
Would it work? I have absolutely no idea. But I’d love to see them try it. Maybe even use it in the Summer League or the G League as a testing ground to see if it works, as I feel it could.
Would This Work?
When I think about these ideas to improve the NBA, it’s hard to say if they would work or not. Even if teams have to spend more money, it doesn’t mean they will spend it wisely. Will the four-point line create more scoring and excitement? Or will it kill the fast drive to the hoop for a crazy slam dunk? Removing timeouts could make the game faster, but will it take away from the strategy and force teams to foul more often?
Only time will tell, but I worry that if the NBA does not make changes, the league could be in trouble in the future. Maybe not in the near future, but in the future nevertheless.
