Aug. 21--Clippers' superstar power forward Blake Griffin thinks it would benefit both players and fans if the 82-game NBA season were reduced to 66 games.
"Sixty-six, spread over the same amount of time [as the current season]," Griffin told CBSSports.com at Team USA mini-camp last week. "Fatigue and injuries, and better product. If you have less games, less back-to-backs, the product's better. The fans will appreciate it more. You see those college guys playing so hard, but they play 36 games in the same amount of time we play 82 almost. I just think it would be a better product."
The league is taking a look at reducing the number of back-to-backs and four games in five nights that teams have to play, but it's unlikely to reduce the number of games in a season because that would mean less revenue.
Clippers' point guard Chris Paul, who played in all 82 games last season for the first time in his career, said he wasn't sure what the solution is.
"Money is an object, though," Paul told CBS. "When we were kids playing AAU, we'd play five games in a day and wouldn't think twice about it. I don't know what the right number is. We've been playing 82 for a while though, huh? As far as I can remember. That'd be tough [to change]."
