Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 3: Shorter NBA Season?

ESPN New York | March 10, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the ongoing debate over the length of the NBA season, prompted by recent comments from Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who suggested shortening the regular season for the benefit of players’ health and league competitiveness. The discussion expands to include broader questions about load management, playoff incentives, fan expectations, and whether reducing the number of games would actually improve the game. The hosts Adam Hahn, Peter Rosenberg, and Don La Greca share candid takes, peppered with humor, anecdotes, and comparisons to other major sports. They also engage with listeners on the topic, dissecting the challenges and cultural shifts in modern professional basketball.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Steve Kerr’s Call for Fewer NBA Games

• Steve Kerr’s Statement (08:04–08:36):
  • Kerr argues the NBA should cut 10 games from its current 82-game schedule for the sake of player health and a more competitive league, recognizing this would require sacrificing some revenue.
  • Quote: "We need to play fewer games. We need to take 10 games off the schedule...it would be a more competitive and healthier league if we played fewer." – Steve Kerr (08:04)

2. Are Players Really Overworked, or is it the Culture?

• Rosenberg & Don Hahn question whether today’s NBA players actually endure more physical stress, given advances in medicine and recovery technology.

  • Don argues that while today’s play is faster and features more athletic movements (like the eurostep), players have far better resources to heal and recover compared to previous generations.
  • Quote: "The wear and tear on soft tissue injuries...a lot more done on the joints because of the way these—the euro step is probably one of the most dangerous things to knees and ankles you can imagine." – Don Hahn (09:33)
  • Still, Don notes that, paradoxically, despite all this, today’s players sit out more games than stars of the past.

• Culture Shift:

  • Rosenberg suggests the regular season’s perceived lack of importance is the main reason stars rest so much: “Their regular season doesn't matter, and these players don't want to play 82 games when most of their games don't matter to them.” (10:16)

3. The Revenue Argument & “Cake and Eat It Too”

• Stephen A. Smith’s Take (10:51–11:51):
  • Calls out NBA players and coaches for wanting a reduced workload without discussing corresponding reductions in pay.
  • Quote: “Don’t talk about what’s good for the game while talking about keeping the money...Your argument would be far more profound if Steve Kerr came out and said, you know what? Let’s give back some of these monies...and let’s subtract 10 games worth of pay for this.” – Stephen A. Smith (11:07)

4. Comparisons to Other Sports

• Hockey & Baseball:

  • Stephen A. and the hosts point out NHL players log fewer minutes but at a higher intensity, and MLB, while long at 162 games, is less physically taxing.
  • Major sports with shorter seasons, like the NFL, enjoy higher urgency and more meaningful regular-season games.

• Tanking & Playoff Structure:

  • Widespread tanking (10 of 30 NBA teams) and a hefty playoff field (20 teams) lessen regular season urgency, further fueling load management.

5. Is the 82-Game Season Outdated?

• Fan and Player Perspectives:
  • The hosts note that only a handful of NBA players appear in every game—very few of whom are true “stars.” (17:11)
  • Memorable Statistic: "Six. And none of them are stars. None of them." – Don Hahn on active ironmen in the NBA (17:11)
  • They see the NBA bending over backward (e.g., setting 65-game award minimums) to simply get stars on the floor 80% of the time.

6. Load Management – Players or Teams?

• Caller Allen from the Bronx (24:25):
  • Argues that, outside of clear tanking situations, NBA stars want to play but are held back by team-imposed load management.
  • The hosts respond by again highlighting how few stars truly play every night—and how the culture around sitting out has shifted.

7. Player Health After Retirement – Does It Justify Fewer Games?

• Players’ Longevity and Welfare (27:00+):
  • Alan and Don acknowledge that older, bigger players sometimes struggle with injuries, but the physical risks can't be compared to football, where the risk to life and long-term health is much greater.
  • Rosenberg points out that, as a fan, hearing players talk about “saving themselves” for life after basketball is hard to accept given their salaries and the fans' expectations for sacrifice.

8. Would Fewer Games Actually Help the Sport?

• Urgency & Quality:

  • Don and Rosenberg argue that fewer games would boost competitiveness, attendance, and ratings, citing how the NFL's short season fuels urgency.
  • Quote: “When you have those shortened seasons like we had with lockouts—'99 and 2011—the shortened season puts more urgency into the games.” – Don Hahn (30:09)

• Proposed Structures:

  • Discuss a 52-game NBA season with games only on weekends to maximize health, practice time, and competitive intensity (32:22–32:42).
  • Alan raises a caution that, even with fewer games, habits could creep in over time and players might still rest unless the culture changes.

9. Broader Implications – Would This Work in Baseball or Hockey?

• The group speculates about what it would look like to slash baseball’s season to 82 games or even mirror the NFL’s 17-game urgency, but recognize the historical/statistical significance and entrenched traditions.

• Quote: “Baseball could be 82 and you wouldn’t notice it. Cut it in half, you wouldn’t know.” – Don Hahn (40:31)

• Alan and Rosenberg also discuss how the frequency of games taxes fans and broadcasters, particularly during long home stands or when West Coast teams play early games on the East Coast, hurting ratings and attendance (43:05+).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Player Rest Culture:
  • “Once it starts to happen [load management], then everybody else is like, ‘Oh yeah, I think we need that.’ And now it becomes a thing...It’s impossible to put the toothpaste back in the tube.” – Don Hahn (14:22)
• On Fan Expectation vs. Player Self-Preservation:
  • “I don’t want to hear that guy did load management...or didn’t dive for that loose ball because he’s thinking about 20 years from now...” – Rosenberg (29:44)
• On the “Weekend Basketball” Concept:
  • “If you only had games from Thursday to Sunday, you’d have a 52ish game season...there’d be no back-to-backs. Every game would be life or death.” – Don Hahn (32:22)
• On the NBA’s Lowered Standards:
  • “We’re saying to you, ‘please, please, just play 80% of the games. Don’t even play a hundred.’ We continue to lower the standard.” – Don Hahn (19:02)
• On Why Fans Love Football’s Format:
  • “Football is popular because every game means something. Because there’s only 17 of them, soon to be 18, by the way.” – Rosenberg (12:29)
• On Historical Stat Importance in Baseball:
  • “The problem is it throws off the whole concept of a series...and people would freak out because there is a component to the numbers, the religion.” – Alan (40:49)
• Comic Relief:
  • Extended riffing on cartoon mascots, Acme anvils, and the cartoon “Wile E. Coyote.” (04:00–05:00)
  • Jokes about hosting the White House (“Don and Stephen A. Smith 2028!”), campaign slogans, and Dan Quayle spelling “potato.” (44:40+)

Important Timestamps

• 00:24 – Show opens; banter about local hockey and college sports, running gags about mascots.
• 08:04 – Steve Kerr’s audio on shortening NBA season.
• 10:12-13:20 – Debate on load management and the regular season’s value; Stephen A. Smith’s interjection.
• 17:11-19:02 – Stats: How few NBA players are “ironmen” and the impact of award eligibility rules.
• 24:23 – Caller Allen from the Bronx on load management.
• 27:00 – Discussion about the impact of long careers on player health.
• 29:44 – Fan expectations for player sacrifice vs. the reality of player health.
• 30:09–34:08 – Pros/cons of shorter seasons, possible schedules (weekends only), urgency in sports.
• 37:51–38:53 – Listener story about hypothetical “16-game baseball season” to illustrate missed urgency in long seasons.
• 40:31–43:36 – How scheduling and TV impacts attendances and ratings; practical impacts of shortening any season.

Tone and Style

The conversation is lively, candid, and sports-bar conversational, characterized by humor, sharp observations, nostalgia for earlier eras, and tough-love critiques aimed at both players and league decision-makers. The hosts mix storytelling, stat-citing, and cultural critique, keeping the discussion broad and accessible even as they dive into the weeds of NBA labor and schedule politics.

TL;DR

The hosts dig into whether the NBA would truly benefit from a shorter regular season, as Steve Kerr suggested, and whether load management is driven by player laziness, organizational policy, or just a devalued regular season. They contrast how other leagues handle long schedules and discuss whether some of the NBA’s cultural shifts can ever be undone. Their consensus is that fewer games might actually spark more meaningful competition and higher fan interest—but it would take a sea change in priorities, finance, and tradition to make it happen in any major sport.