Adam Silver hints at NBA adopting 10-minute quarters

The commish is “a fan” of 10-minute-quarter basketball and would love to implement it.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has floated the idea of shortening games to 40 minutes by switching from 12-minute quarters to 10 soon enough as he only sees benefits to it.

Speaking on “The Dan Patrick Show” on Wednesday, Silver acknowledged the NBA is the only major league still playing 48-minute games and said he believes a two-hour format would better fit modern viewing habits.

“As we get more involved in global basketball, the NBA is the only league that plays 48 minutes. And I would be — 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, yeah, I think that a two-hour format for a game is more consistent with modern television habits.” — Adam Silver

Silver noted that Olympic and college basketball already use a 40-minute format and suggested that shortening quarters could also help address issues like player rest and load management.

For context, the Knicks have four players in the top five of total minutes played this season, with Karl-Anthony Towns ranked 29th. In the minutes-per-game leaderboard, three New Yorkers are inside the top seven while the other two starters rank 25th and 30th.

Fun stat: Mikal Bridges’ 38.4 minutes per game after Wednesday’s game would have him as close as it gets to being able to play full games on a steady basis in Silver’s preferred, 40-minute NBA.

“Incidentally, if you went to a 40-minute game, with the minutes around load management and resting, it would be the equivalent of—I don’t know the exact math—taking, like, 15 games off the season,” Silver said.

That’s nearly correct, as it’d equate to removing between 13 and 14 games from the current schedule, played at a 48-minute-a-pop pace.

The idea has already drawn pushback, with both Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau and Nuggets honcho Michael Malone both expressing skepticism.

Thibodeau cited concerns over maintaining historical records intact forever if the change goes through.

“I’m more of a traditional guy, so I’d hate to see that,” Thibodeau said.

Malone acknowledged the NBA’s full focus on fan engagement but warned about the damage such drastic changes could cause to the game.

“I hope we don’t become Barnum & Bailey,” Malone said. “Because there’s a greatness and a history to this game, and a purity to this game that I hope we can find a way to stay true to.”

According to ESPN, NBA games average around 2 hours and 16 minutes currently, a figure that has remained virtually unchanged over the past 15 seasons.

“I think of a television program being two hours, Olympic basketball being two hours.,” Silver reasoned. “And college basketball, of course, is 40 minutes.”

Perhaps all Silver has to do to enjoy ultra-condensed NBA games is simply check NBAMEX’s #JornadaNBA hashtag on X.