The Interminable NBA Season: A Case for Contraction

On Sunday, February 18, Team LeBron defeated Team Stephen (148-145) in the 2018 NBA All-Star Game at Staples Center in Los Angeles and the rest of the Association enjoyed a much-needed break.  The NBA's star-studded contest falls 58 games into their season of 82 games, Most teams have approximately 24 games left, except for 16 of 30 teams that will continue in the playoffs. While MLB refers to their All-Star game as the midsummer classic, by this point in the season, their break is mid-nothing. They are broken, sore, weary and mentally and physically exhausted and their fans, their coaches, and teammates know it. This reality has only further my belief that if I had the chance to meet Adam Silver, Commissioner of the NBA, I would say one thing: contract
to shorten (a word, phrase, etc.) by combining or omitting some of its elements: Contracting “do not” yields “don't.”.

I remember thinking I had not missed basketball whatsoever when the 2017-2018 season began on Tuesday, October 17, 2017. On the opening night, my Golden State Warriors hosted the Houston Rockets. The other game of the night was a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers facing the Boston Celtics. Two of those teams—the Dubs and the Cavs completed the 2016-2017 just four months prior as the Warriors were re-crowned NBA champs in Game Five of the series. I'll speak for myself, but it's hard to miss basketball when the season is eight months long. There really can be too much of a good thing.

In the book "Sportuality: Finding Joy in the Games" Jeanne Hess writes,

Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? If the good thing—even sport—no longer inspires, then, yes I think it is. Is that happening as sport becomes over analyzed and mechanistic?  Is profit and hype removing— spirit and joy—from the game? 

Do you remember when professional football was played only on Sunday? Then came Monday Night Football and the annual Detroit Lions game at Thanksgiving. Then other teams begin to play on Turkey Day too. Now we have weekly Thursday Night Football.  Why not at least play one football game every night of the week?  

Do you remember when the Major League Baseball season was 154 games and ended in September with the World Series in October? Now with the illumination of doubleheaders, the 162 game schedule seems longer and the expanded playoff format puts the World Series well into late October and early November.  

Do you remember when the NCAA basketball tournament comprised eight teams? Then it was expanded 16, 32, 48, 64, and 68 teams. Now there's talk of expanding the number of teams even further, and a multi-round NCAA football championship series remains a possibility.  

How far can athletics seasons be expanded? As far as the media advertising dollars, owners' desire to put meat in the seats, and fan interest will go, I suppose.

Is it possible to maintain that level of both saturation and interest? This question is worth considering because we're swimming between the two streams. I sincerely wish that the leaders of the NFL, MLB, the NHL and NBA would make a tremendously counter-cultural decision and opt to contract. Lean is mean. Leave us wanting more....not less.

I'll conclude my diatribe with a story; one that is meant to demonstrate this phenomenon isn't limited to just the world of sports. I dare say contraction might be a good thing in our personal lives, our spiritual lives and our society at large. 

At the Colloquium on the Ministry of Teaching for Jesuit schools, one teacher shared a story (lots of storytelling) about a school, similar to many of ours with increasing enrollment. We are fortunate—our schools are viable and this is nothing we take for granted. Growth can be seen in the enhancement of our facilities, the quality of our students, the qualifications of our faculty and more. For all intensive purposes, bigger is better. That's our reality. 

As one school prepared to welcome girls into the school community the faculty engaged in a spirited debate. How many students can we have for each grade? What should the teacher to student ratio be? How many more faculty member will we need? As the faculty discussed these questions with enthusiasm and energy, a lone wolf cried out a message that all needed to hear. He raised his hand. You could tell the President didn't want to call on him but the time was nigh. This prophetic voice said, "Instead of expansion might we consider contraction? Does anyone think it might be wise for us to get smaller." 

What an unpopular message he brought to the table. What a countercultural voice. Bigger is not always better. More is a word we associate with money, but ought we think how quantity might compromise quality? Perhaps it is time to embrace less AS more. Less is more. 

Dear Mr. Silver....

Photo Credits
Two teams
Less is More
Silver