The Change That Could Make the NBA Playoffs Watchable

The NBA postseason needs to be shorter. This year’s playoffs started on April 13 and won’t end until sometime in June. Last year’s playoffs similarly lasted 55 days. That’s longer than NCAA basketball’s entire March Madness tournament, which runs for about three weeks. And it’s roughly as long as the NFL and MLB playoffs combined.

Historically, the NBA playoffs have been one of the most entertaining postseasons in all of sports, where rivalries are born and great players become legends. This year’s games, for instance, in the first round against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and another from the Toronto Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard, who hit against the Philadelphia 76ers. But for every riveting series, there’s another one that’s tainted by the fatigue and injuries that come from athletes playing every 48 hours from October through April in the regular season, and then ratcheting up the intensity for two more months in the playoffs.