WEBVTT - Grading The Ringer's 22 Ways To Fix The NBA 0:00:06.330 --> 0:00:10.890 Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the No Dunks Podcast, 0:00:10.930 --> 0:00:16.800 presented by FanDuel, Saturday, September 5th, 2026. I'm J.E. Skeets, 0:00:17.050 --> 0:00:22.480 here in the yard, hoping, praying my mic is working 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:25.560 a little bit better than the last time I tried this. 0:00:26.380 --> 0:00:28.980 I'm going to have to lean here on the stream 0:00:29.020 --> 0:00:33.280 team to let me know whether I'm coming in crystal clear. 0:00:33.380 --> 0:00:37.780 I don't know what happened. with the Bulmer Kauai Emergency Podcast. 0:00:38.300 --> 0:00:42.280 I had this mic selected and then it sounded like 0:00:42.340 --> 0:00:44.320 I was in an aquarium or something. So let me 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:46.760 know if you can hear me and you can see 0:00:46.820 --> 0:00:48.659 me and all that good stuff. If you can feel me, 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:52.660 all right. Everybody says I sound good. Hello. Little bonus 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:57.150 surprise episode here. Trying something different. Always trying to get 0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:02.170 creative here. I'm gonna share my thoughts and ultimately grade 0:01:02.250 --> 0:01:05.730 some of the ringers ideas on how to fix the 0:01:05.830 --> 0:01:08.560 NBA they had a very fun column up recently that 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:13.120 I thought we could tackle they asked 22 different employees 0:01:13.180 --> 0:01:15.520 I guess one simple question if you can make one 0:01:15.620 --> 0:01:18.190 change to the NBA what would it be and some 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:22.350 of the proposals were practical others got a little radical 0:01:22.370 --> 0:01:25.429 a little silly but it's pretty fun so the plan 0:01:25.510 --> 0:01:29.660 here for this podcast go through each one talk it 0:01:29.780 --> 0:01:33.080 out And then decide whether we hate it or love it. 0:01:33.209 --> 0:01:36.410 Maybe grade it on a scale of 1 to 5. 0:01:36.410 --> 0:01:39.610 Something like that. Shouts to our guy Kenny Beecham for 0:01:39.650 --> 0:01:42.820 basically inspiring this idea. I know Kenny does a lot 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:45.180 of content like this on his own YouTube channel where 0:01:45.220 --> 0:01:51.480 he reacts to columns such as trade ideas or rankings. 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:55.580 I always enjoy those ones. But Kenny's a pro. I'm 0:01:55.600 --> 0:01:58.010 just a man. I'm just a man with a little 0:01:58.110 --> 0:02:00.510 time on my hand here on the weekend. It's too 0:02:00.530 --> 0:02:02.410 damn hot to do anything here in Atlanta. I don't 0:02:02.430 --> 0:02:05.400 know where you are. If you are outside right now 0:02:05.460 --> 0:02:08.760 in Atlanta, you have to be in a pool. That's it. 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:13.359 And I think I'm doing pool hangs on Monday, the 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:18.460 actual holiday here in North America. So I'm inside. I'm 0:02:18.500 --> 0:02:21.370 doing some NBA sicko shit here. And if you do 0:02:21.430 --> 0:02:25.230 enjoy and end up liking this content, hit the like button. Subscribe, 0:02:25.370 --> 0:02:29.460 comment away as the stream team already is. Five-star ratings 0:02:29.580 --> 0:02:35.320 and reviews for everybody listening to the pod. So let's 0:02:35.340 --> 0:02:39.690 share a screen and let's get right into the column. Again, 0:02:40.310 --> 0:02:43.550 I've linked to this in the show notes. This is 0:02:43.630 --> 0:02:50.120 on the ringer. 22 Increasingly Unhinged Ways to Fix the NBA. 0:02:51.730 --> 0:02:54.669 And they say here right off the jump, they start 0:02:55.030 --> 0:02:58.709 a little more practical, a little more reasonable and get 0:02:58.750 --> 0:03:01.400 a little bit more unhinged as it goes on. And 0:03:01.410 --> 0:03:04.260 we'll just tackle them in order here. And I'm not 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:06.540 going to read this whole column. You can go do that, 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:10.440 but obviously we'll highlight the idea, some of the thoughts 0:03:10.540 --> 0:03:13.440 from the writer in particular, and then again, we'll grade it. 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:16.360 Maybe at the end, if I can keep track well enough, 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:20.519 I'll give you my top five favorite ideas. from this 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:22.480 ringer article on how to fix the nba that's what 0:03:22.500 --> 0:03:25.639 we're doing here and who knows maybe you guys have 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:29.340 22 other ideas how to fix the nba and that 0:03:29.380 --> 0:03:32.280 can be a whole other uh podcast down the line 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:34.730 here you know it's the summer we're still uh we're 0:03:34.750 --> 0:03:36.690 still scraping the bottom of the barrel here for some 0:03:36.750 --> 0:03:38.710 content here but this should be fun okay so part 0:03:38.770 --> 0:03:41.170 one they say it right here uh wait these are 0:03:41.210 --> 0:03:42.990 actually good ideas and i think what they mean is 0:03:43.030 --> 0:03:47.330 like you know these are maybe possible first one Rob Mahoney, 0:03:47.670 --> 0:03:49.990 our guy, Rob Mahoney. We got to get him back 0:03:50.030 --> 0:03:52.610 on the podcast. Let's do that. Let's have him on 0:03:53.430 --> 0:03:55.650 for some like preseason fun. I love Rob Mahoney. I 0:03:55.650 --> 0:03:58.580 think he's one of the best podcasters in the game. Okay, 0:03:58.620 --> 0:04:03.790 his idea, get rid of pick protections. He's tired of it. 0:04:05.020 --> 0:04:08.140 You know, he's trying to keep track of who has 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:10.380 it and the more favorable and then it goes here. 0:04:10.420 --> 0:04:12.340 But if it's in this range, it goes to this team. 0:04:12.380 --> 0:04:14.260 And it's like, you know, and then it fails to convey. 0:04:14.300 --> 0:04:15.920 And then, oh my God, it's second round picks. And 0:04:15.940 --> 0:04:20.670 it's like, It's frustrating. Like it's gotten out of hand. And, 0:04:21.250 --> 0:04:22.950 you know, as someone who does this for a living, 0:04:23.510 --> 0:04:26.610 I go to those real GM pages. I look at 0:04:26.670 --> 0:04:29.469 some of the picks and I give up after like 0:04:29.470 --> 0:04:31.830 30 seconds. I don't know. I'm like, I don't know 0:04:31.870 --> 0:04:35.529 who has this. Where is it going? So I really 0:04:35.589 --> 0:04:41.240 like this idea. Get rid of pick protections. The idea 0:04:41.300 --> 0:04:44.140 is you either trade the pick or you don't, as 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:47.580 Rob says. You take the risk of trading said pick 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:51.890 or you don't. Let's just keep it very simple. I 0:04:51.930 --> 0:04:55.770 like it. I'm on board. Again, I'm maybe in the 0:04:55.830 --> 0:04:59.030 weeds when it comes to this stuff, but my eyes 0:04:59.089 --> 0:05:01.270 just gloss over when I try and make sense of 0:05:01.310 --> 0:05:05.300 some of these. TK just did a short recently, if 0:05:05.339 --> 0:05:10.110 you saw, on a real... I can't remember which particular 0:05:10.190 --> 0:05:12.390 one it was. It doesn't really matter. But it was 0:05:12.430 --> 0:05:17.529 like war and peace. Trying to like read through of 0:05:17.890 --> 0:05:20.420 all the protections and where it goes. And if this happens, 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.070 then this happens and all this. He wasn't making it up. 0:05:23.100 --> 0:05:24.920 He didn't write it. It wasn't AI or something like that. 0:05:24.940 --> 0:05:29.140 It's like a real crazy protected pick that's like owned 0:05:29.180 --> 0:05:31.120 in some weird way by like eight different teams. So 0:05:32.020 --> 0:05:34.700 I like this one. High on this one. I will say, 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:39.260 you know what? Starting off with five stars. I like it. 0:05:39.980 --> 0:05:42.159 I like it. I mean, I like what's the counter 0:05:42.380 --> 0:05:46.039 to like keeping it. I guess it may be facilitates 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:49.220 more trades because it's not so binary. It's like you 0:05:49.300 --> 0:05:51.960 either trade the bigger you don't. So, you know, you can, 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:53.920 you can cover your ass as a franchise a bit, 0:05:53.980 --> 0:05:56.200 you know, or, or you can get unlucky as we 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:58.780 saw with the Pacers and the zoo bots trade and 0:05:58.820 --> 0:06:01.339 the pick protection sort of backfired on them. And the 0:06:01.380 --> 0:06:03.520 Clippers luckily got it. My God, now they're out of 0:06:03.540 --> 0:06:07.570 picks for a decade. So maybe that's why you want 0:06:07.589 --> 0:06:11.830 to keep them, but I don't care that much. You 0:06:11.850 --> 0:06:14.550 trade the pick or you don't. The stakes are high 0:06:14.589 --> 0:06:18.690 that way. I like it. So five stars. Second idea, 0:06:18.890 --> 0:06:26.800 Michael Pena. Abolish the salary cap aprons. Okay, so he 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:30.960 goes through. Okay, look, simply put, have we gone too 0:06:31.060 --> 0:06:34.240 far here and we are now punishing teams that have 0:06:34.260 --> 0:06:38.219 done a great job in drafting, creating squads that maybe 0:06:38.260 --> 0:06:40.920 even win championships like the Nuggets, the Celtics, the Thunder, 0:06:40.980 --> 0:06:43.440 and then they have to turn around and be like, well, 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:48.280 our payroll is obviously insane now, and we can't keep 0:06:48.300 --> 0:06:50.760 the championship window open, and we just got to move on. 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:53.659 And so we got to start selling off pieces, thus 0:06:53.740 --> 0:06:57.620 making it very difficult to create and maintain any sort 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:03.810 of dynasty. Now, Silver loves this, it feels like. he 0:07:03.950 --> 0:07:06.549 can't stop talking about, oh, we got a different winner, 0:07:06.630 --> 0:07:11.650 eight consecutive seasons. Like, he seems anti-dynasty, where a lot 0:07:11.670 --> 0:07:13.970 of other people are like, hold on, dynasties are badass. 0:07:14.690 --> 0:07:17.020 Because either it's your team, and you're like, hey, we're 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.380 trying to build one of the best teams of all time, or, 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:22.780 more likely, you hate said dynasty, you want to see 0:07:22.820 --> 0:07:26.260 the dynasty fall. Who's going to be the team that 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:29.040 knocks them off? And you root against them. And it 0:07:29.060 --> 0:07:31.120 feels like, you know, there's a lot of interest in 0:07:31.850 --> 0:07:34.970 Be it the Warriors to some extent or the Heedles 0:07:35.030 --> 0:07:38.970 before that and obviously Jordan's Bulls and go on and on. 0:07:39.150 --> 0:07:41.050 We've had a lot of them. Or we used to. 0:07:41.230 --> 0:07:43.710 Now we don't. So maybe you're, I don't know where 0:07:43.750 --> 0:07:47.970 you fall, whether you're pro-dynasty or not. I sort of... 0:07:49.470 --> 0:07:51.070 I sort of, I don't know. I don't think I 0:07:51.110 --> 0:07:53.910 really ultimately care, but I guess it's really fun when 0:07:53.930 --> 0:07:56.930 there's like these super, super good teams that you want 0:07:56.970 --> 0:07:59.990 to see either continue to dominate or, like I said, 0:08:00.030 --> 0:08:03.040 get knocked off. But again, the idea here from Pina 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:06.340 is a big reason why we don't have dynasties where 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:08.820 it's become more difficult is because of these salary cap aprons. 0:08:08.900 --> 0:08:11.080 And I think ultimately we're going to like, these are 0:08:11.100 --> 0:08:14.560 going to change. I do think we'll get there when 0:08:14.580 --> 0:08:19.120 they get to the next CBA structuring and all that. 0:08:20.060 --> 0:08:21.980 But I don't have this one as a five. I 0:08:22.020 --> 0:08:24.240 think I'm more in the middle somewhere. I'll even put 0:08:24.260 --> 0:08:29.140 it at a two. Because I just ultimately, I don't 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:33.500 know if I care enough. Yes, these teams are hurt. Look, 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:37.959 there's probably a middle ground of something of when it 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:44.040 comes to you drafting said player, you get to almost 0:08:44.140 --> 0:08:46.480 star them in a way or somehow as a workaround. 0:08:47.820 --> 0:08:50.160 to your actual huge payroll and stuff like that. And 0:08:50.179 --> 0:08:51.560 I know a lot of people have talked about this. 0:08:51.580 --> 0:08:53.340 You can really get into the weeds with this stuff. 0:08:53.780 --> 0:08:55.480 And yeah, that makes sense. Cause like, why are we 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:58.500 punishing franchises for doing a great job of drafting and 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:01.040 building up these players? And then, you know, they get 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:02.420 to a point where you're like, okay, well now we 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:05.819 can't have two, three max guys. So bye. But again, 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:07.560 I think the league and silver loves that. They want 0:09:07.580 --> 0:09:10.620 to like spread the wealth around. And it's like, okay, 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:12.079 I don't want you to have three max guys. I 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.760 want you to have maybe one or two. And then 0:09:14.780 --> 0:09:16.710 I want another franchise to get said max guy. So 0:09:17.630 --> 0:09:19.430 I'll go two. I'll grade this one a two on 0:09:19.470 --> 0:09:23.790 abolishing the salary cap aprons and play along as you 0:09:23.809 --> 0:09:25.370 guys are here in the stream team. All right, next 0:09:25.450 --> 0:09:33.239 one here. Daniel Chen says, lose the conferences. Meh, why? 0:09:33.740 --> 0:09:36.600 I got no problem with the conferences. I don't care 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:39.620 at all. Now, so I'm one star on this one 0:09:40.580 --> 0:09:42.700 in terms of like, I don't see, what is this, fix? 0:09:43.590 --> 0:09:48.000 I know we have another one later about schedules. And 0:09:48.010 --> 0:09:51.380 you can make it more fair where every team plays 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:55.120 another team in the league twice. We could shorten the season. 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:56.290 Do all that. We'll get to that when we get 0:09:56.330 --> 0:09:58.620 to it. As for this one, you know, I know 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:02.820 we're going to expand to 32 teams. And if they 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:05.920 are in Seattle and Vegas where everybody thinks they'll be, 0:10:05.980 --> 0:10:08.970 those are Western Conference teams. So there's going to be 0:10:09.450 --> 0:10:12.910 one of those Western Conference teams to balance things out 0:10:12.950 --> 0:10:15.329 if we keep conferences, which I think we are. One 0:10:15.350 --> 0:10:18.390 of those teams will move to the East. And, you know, 0:10:18.410 --> 0:10:20.440 a lot of the teams are listed here. As to 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:23.079 who that could be, the Grizzlies, the Pelicans, the Timberwolves, 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:25.479 I think are the team that are going to be 0:10:25.500 --> 0:10:28.840 the ones that come to the Eastern Conference, which is exciting. 0:10:29.300 --> 0:10:32.180 I've said before, and I really should make it short 0:10:32.220 --> 0:10:35.280 about it, is like Silver has such a boner for 0:10:35.340 --> 0:10:38.720 tournaments that we should just have a tournament to decide 0:10:38.820 --> 0:10:40.370 who gets to be the team that goes to the 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:44.730 Eastern Conference. It'd be awesome. Put all these teams in. Like, 0:10:45.190 --> 0:10:48.570 I know, we even just picked the four most realistic teams. Okay, 0:10:48.590 --> 0:10:52.189 we got Grizzlies, Pelicans, Wolves. I know, who else would 0:10:52.210 --> 0:10:56.460 be sort of Eastern there? I don't know, Thunder, whatever. 0:10:57.059 --> 0:10:59.700 Make it four teams and then let them battle it out. 0:11:01.020 --> 0:11:04.599 You win, you go East. Now, more and more people 0:11:04.620 --> 0:11:06.450 are like, do you really want to go East? East 0:11:06.530 --> 0:11:09.210 is sort of getting stacked here now. Though the Thunder 0:11:09.230 --> 0:11:10.569 and Spurs, of course, are in the West and that's 0:11:10.590 --> 0:11:13.430 very difficult, but I would do that. Just make another tournament, Silver. 0:11:14.210 --> 0:11:18.570 Play your way to the East. But as for this, conferences, meh. 0:11:20.130 --> 0:11:21.950 I'm pro conferences. I want the All-Star game to go 0:11:21.970 --> 0:11:26.010 back to conferences. Just straight up East-West, baby. So I'm 0:11:26.090 --> 0:11:31.230 one star. Sorry, Daniel. Next one. Make the four worst 0:11:31.309 --> 0:11:37.810 teams play for the number one pick. Isaiah Blakely. He 0:11:37.870 --> 0:11:40.910 says the NBA's lottery system is boring and these new 0:11:40.950 --> 0:11:45.550 wrinkles haven't made it more interesting. I guess he's sort 0:11:45.570 --> 0:11:48.990 of projecting there as we get into the new draft reform, 0:11:49.010 --> 0:11:50.929 which is actually going to kick in here when it 0:11:50.970 --> 0:11:53.809 comes to the relegation zone. You don't want to be 0:11:53.830 --> 0:11:57.840 the worst of the worst. So instead, Isaiah's thought here 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.580 is just let the four worst teams duke it out 0:12:01.620 --> 0:12:04.000 at the end. I think he even says, at the 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:07.900 same time the play-in tournament is going on, we do 0:12:07.970 --> 0:12:12.309 this little mini-tournament. And again, Silver loves tournaments. So geez, 0:12:12.410 --> 0:12:14.449 this could be something that happens in the future. I 0:12:14.470 --> 0:12:18.170 don't mind it. I don't mind it. You know, there's 0:12:18.210 --> 0:12:22.030 some complications here. I think measures that need to be 0:12:22.050 --> 0:12:25.500 in place, as Isaiah says, where teams couldn't get like 0:12:25.540 --> 0:12:30.360 real slick with it and like shut down talented players 0:12:30.940 --> 0:12:33.100 during the regular season only to bring them back for 0:12:33.140 --> 0:12:36.210 this little mini tournament. So I don't know. How you 0:12:36.230 --> 0:12:39.050 get to that, maybe guys have had to have played 0:12:39.090 --> 0:12:41.770 so many games or something, I don't know. But, you know, 0:12:41.790 --> 0:12:43.790 the idea of them playing for the top prize is 0:12:43.830 --> 0:12:46.270 sort of fun. And taking it out of the hands 0:12:46.490 --> 0:12:52.880 of just random ping pong balls. You know, I don't 0:12:52.900 --> 0:12:57.140 mind it. I think I'm a... I think I'm a three. 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:02.080 Somewhere in the middle with this one. I do want 0:13:02.100 --> 0:13:06.640 to see how this goes, the new draft reform, but... Yeah, 0:13:06.700 --> 0:13:10.500 bad teams battling each other to see who gets the pick. Now, 0:13:10.740 --> 0:13:13.559 the counter always to this is, why will the players 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:18.390 on said bad teams actually want to compete to win 0:13:19.090 --> 0:13:23.110 the number one pick, which in theory could take their spot, 0:13:23.210 --> 0:13:26.770 their minutes, their opportunity? It's like, okay, yeah. So I 0:13:26.790 --> 0:13:30.970 think Isaiah says, you know, add money to it. That's 0:13:31.010 --> 0:13:33.329 the answer for everything. Just throw some more money at it. 0:13:34.340 --> 0:13:37.640 So then, hey, you guys get some more cash. But ultimately, 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:41.340 maybe your minutes will be gone if you guys win. 0:13:41.420 --> 0:13:43.470 So that's what I get. I'm somewhere in the middle there. 0:13:43.490 --> 0:13:49.090 I'll go three. All right, number five. Ban intentional fouls 0:13:49.350 --> 0:13:53.150 and hack a shack. This is Anthony. You know, pretty 0:13:53.190 --> 0:13:58.470 self-explanatory here. You know, the hack a shack is one thing. 0:13:58.490 --> 0:14:02.060 That one, to me, like it is sort of insane. Still, 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.790 you're a pro. NBA player and you can't hit free 0:14:05.809 --> 0:14:10.750 throws enough where it's like not even makes any sense 0:14:10.790 --> 0:14:13.030 for the opposition to follow you. Like it, like people 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:14.640 have crunched the numbers, right? It's like, you don't have 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:18.579 to be an 85% free throw shooter to suddenly make 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:20.940 that a disadvantage to the team doing the hack and check. 0:14:20.980 --> 0:14:23.560 Like it's pretty damn low, the percentage. And it's still 0:14:23.740 --> 0:14:26.940 mind boggling that the Mitchell Robinsons and I guess what 0:14:27.020 --> 0:14:28.800 Ben Simmons is back in the mix. Like those guys 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:31.540 just can't hit at like basically a 50% clip. It's crazy. 0:14:33.370 --> 0:14:36.930 So put that aside. The intentional fouls, I think what 0:14:36.980 --> 0:14:39.820 Anthony's getting at here is the end of game situations, right? 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:43.300 Where it just turns into a free throw contest. And 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:48.540 it feels like it just zaps all energy from a game. 0:14:48.860 --> 0:14:51.910 And we've talked about this for years on No Dunks. 0:14:52.470 --> 0:14:56.790 I think it's part the free throw, you know, intentional 0:14:56.830 --> 0:14:58.830 fouling and all that to try and get back in 0:14:58.850 --> 0:15:03.530 the game if you're trailing. In addition to... the insane 0:15:03.580 --> 0:15:06.540 amount of timeouts. Like, I was sort of shocked nobody 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:10.200 in this list, from what I can remember, suggested, like, 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:14.980 just cut back on timeouts. Aggressively cut back on timeouts. Like, 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:18.940 I swear to God, I think you should have two timeouts, 0:15:19.180 --> 0:15:24.140 that's it, per half. Done. And you can only even 0:15:24.300 --> 0:15:26.160 use one, let's say, in the final two minutes. So, 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:28.840 you got one other one, and then one in the 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:32.480 final two minutes. That's what I would do. Are you 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:37.260 kidding me? Am I hearing a leaf blower? My guys 0:15:37.300 --> 0:15:39.410 aren't even here this weekend. The hell's going on? I 0:15:39.500 --> 0:15:43.990 guess then some other neighbor's got it. Without fail, you 0:15:44.010 --> 0:15:46.250 do a podcast and a leaf blower is going to 0:15:46.290 --> 0:15:54.050 show up. It's insane. So yeah, I'm on the intentional fouling. 0:15:54.090 --> 0:15:55.790 I'm high, but on the hack-a-shock, I care less. So 0:15:55.810 --> 0:15:58.250 I'm somewhere in the middle ultimately on this idea for 0:15:58.290 --> 0:16:00.190 fixing the NBA. I'll go right in the middle. I'll 0:16:00.230 --> 0:16:08.250 go three. But fixing the end of game situations? Yes, yes, yes, please. 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:12.700 It's batshit crazy that what should be the best part 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:15.260 of an NBA game is usually the worst. So I 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:18.200 am all for fixing that. Be it getting rid of 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:22.020 intentionally fouling. Be it, like I said, the timeout situation. 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:25.600 All that. Which sort of spins into number six here 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:33.730 from Kirk Goldsberry. Shorten the games, the season, and the load. And, 0:16:33.750 --> 0:16:37.240 you know, this has been talked about ad nauseum, obviously 0:16:37.340 --> 0:16:41.860 shortening the schedule. It's too long, which, you know, everybody 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:46.040 says creates more injuries and superstars are out. And it's just, oh, yeah, 0:16:46.100 --> 0:16:49.820 the data, the data, the data, the data. They say 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:52.380 is like they're just playing too much and they rest 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:54.440 too little. And because of that, we get all these injuries. 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.900 And Kirk has been on this for a very long time. Very, 0:16:58.940 --> 0:17:00.680 very long time, especially as he says here with the 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.180 combination of the volume and the pace. And the way 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:07.880 this sport is now played with these athletes, that just 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:11.030 82 games is too much in sort of the, at 0:17:11.070 --> 0:17:13.430 least the calendar it's crunched into. And then on top 0:17:13.470 --> 0:17:15.550 of that, the playoffs, I mean, you get up to, 0:17:16.330 --> 0:17:18.150 you get up to a hundred plus games for teams 0:17:18.170 --> 0:17:21.650 that are going to the finals, which also I do 0:17:21.730 --> 0:17:24.070 think pairs with this idea of maybe this is why 0:17:24.090 --> 0:17:26.070 we're not seeing these dynasties as much too. Yeah, we 0:17:26.090 --> 0:17:28.210 can get into the salary caps and the limitations of 0:17:28.270 --> 0:17:30.449 like maintaining a good team because you got to pay 0:17:30.490 --> 0:17:32.520 your guys, but Maybe this is a part of it 0:17:32.580 --> 0:17:34.619 as well, that because of the way the sport is 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:38.200 played and the grind these guys go through, to do that, 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:43.119 to basically play 200 games over a two-year stretch is 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:46.780 just a lot. A lot. And maybe teams and players 0:17:46.820 --> 0:17:48.780 are gassed out because of such. So I think that 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:50.440 does go into play. But anyway, back to this. Back 0:17:50.460 --> 0:17:56.210 to Kirk. I do like this one. I mean, again, 0:17:56.230 --> 0:17:58.450 I hate when we always say this, but it feels 0:17:58.470 --> 0:18:01.150 like it's never going to happen just because of money, money, money. 0:18:02.410 --> 0:18:04.530 But I would love the idea of shortening the season 0:18:04.590 --> 0:18:08.980 to make the games more important. I love shortening games. 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:11.399 I'm a huge FIBA guy when it comes to the 0:18:11.420 --> 0:18:15.399 40-minute game. But again, I'm watching way more basketball than 0:18:15.420 --> 0:18:18.260 the average person. So I think that's like, you know, 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:20.100 I have a biased opinion on that. And it's like, 0:18:20.180 --> 0:18:22.800 oh yeah, I could get more games in the shorter 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:27.930 they are. I do love the 40-minute game. But also FIBA, 0:18:28.270 --> 0:18:29.870 I think I'm tricked into it because when I watch 0:18:29.910 --> 0:18:33.560 FIBA games... the pace of it is faster. It's just, 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:36.480 you know, it's not commercialized as much. So, you know, 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:40.580 I just went to a college football game on Thursday 0:18:40.619 --> 0:18:44.139 night here in Atlanta to watch Colorado and Georgia Tech. 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.330 And I, I mean, I've been to lots of football games, 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:50.190 but I didn't realize first off it was on ESPN. 0:18:50.910 --> 0:18:52.790 And I naively like told Nora, I was like, oh yeah, 0:18:52.810 --> 0:18:54.550 game starts at eight. I'll be back. I think I'll 0:18:54.570 --> 0:18:56.629 be back by, back home by 11. I don't live 0:18:56.670 --> 0:19:01.899 that far, super far from the stadium. This game, This 0:19:01.940 --> 0:19:03.840 game was still going at midnight. I didn't get home 0:19:03.859 --> 0:19:07.840 until 1 in the morning. And part of it is 0:19:08.380 --> 0:19:11.500 the longer commercials because of the televised product and all that. 0:19:11.900 --> 0:19:14.119 And then, oh my God, there was a million timeouts 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:18.330 at the end. It just took forever. So I'm always 0:19:18.420 --> 0:19:21.270 pro make these sports a little tighter, a little quicker. 0:19:21.430 --> 0:19:23.870 I was a big fan of the World Cup when 0:19:23.890 --> 0:19:27.530 you know what the actual time it's going to take 0:19:27.570 --> 0:19:31.359 to watch the damn thing. So I like it. I 0:19:31.380 --> 0:19:33.960 don't think any of this will ever happen, unfortunately, but 0:19:34.859 --> 0:19:39.520 shortening games and shortening the season is a no-brainer. No-brainer, 0:19:39.540 --> 0:19:42.699 especially if it does help with fewer injuries. That would 0:19:42.700 --> 0:19:45.940 be awesome. But because of the whole television rights and 0:19:45.940 --> 0:19:48.300 that's where the money is all made now, like we're 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:49.679 just not going to get there i'm high on this 0:19:49.700 --> 0:19:51.879 though you know four give me a four out of 0:19:51.900 --> 0:19:56.720 five on on fixing it number seven i guess this 0:19:56.740 --> 0:19:59.250 is our last one of like yeah the realistic ones 0:19:59.869 --> 0:20:04.389 so to speak bring back the preps to pros era 0:20:04.510 --> 0:20:10.050 from danny chow um This one I don't care enough about. 0:20:10.070 --> 0:20:13.730 I guess the concept here, though, is with the NIL 0:20:14.390 --> 0:20:17.919 era and the money going into college and staying in 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:20.720 college can be attractive now for these guys and all that. 0:20:20.820 --> 0:20:23.800 Because now they're like, I mean, look, college sports is 0:20:23.820 --> 0:20:26.420 just turning into a professional league. It basically is already there. 0:20:28.090 --> 0:20:32.150 That why not just let high school players jump right 0:20:32.190 --> 0:20:35.050 to the NBA again like we used to? Where it 0:20:35.109 --> 0:20:39.470 worked for some and it was complete disaster for other guys. Uh, and, 0:20:39.630 --> 0:20:42.640 and like, uh, Danny or yeah, Danny says here, it was, 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:45.659 you know, there were some cautionary tales with guys who 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:47.720 were like making the jump and probably a lot of 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:50.540 it was financial reasons and it blew up in their 0:20:50.560 --> 0:20:52.379 face and we never heard from them again. And maybe 0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:53.980 they would have been better off going to college and 0:20:54.020 --> 0:20:56.679 doing that route and all that. Of course, like who knows? Um, 0:20:56.859 --> 0:20:59.220 so I don't care that much about this one. Sure. 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:02.280 Like I wouldn't be like, Oh no, no, you must 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:05.739 go to college and pretend to get an education for 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:09.940 one year. And you'll also be paid. Like, I don't, sure. 0:21:09.960 --> 0:21:12.520 I mean, do that or don't. So I'm low on 0:21:12.540 --> 0:21:15.379 this one. It doesn't really change much to me. This, 0:21:15.780 --> 0:21:18.399 how the pipeline would go, whether they go to college 0:21:18.460 --> 0:21:19.699 or forced to go to college for the one year 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:21.820 or not. So, I mean, especially when we get into 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:24.700 the international aspect too, it's like, what are the rules 0:21:24.740 --> 0:21:28.370 are different for where you're coming from in the world. 0:21:28.420 --> 0:21:31.030 So I'm fine getting rid of it. Having high school 0:21:31.070 --> 0:21:32.970 players come if they want and they're that talented and 0:21:32.990 --> 0:21:34.470 they want to go right to the pro, sure. But 0:21:34.930 --> 0:21:37.550 this one, I don't care that much about. So I 0:21:37.570 --> 0:21:42.390 will go to part two of the column here. Again, 0:21:42.410 --> 0:21:46.210 it's in the show notes. It's fun. This one's titled, 0:21:46.230 --> 0:21:47.909 You Want to Get Nuts? Let's Get Nuts. So they 0:21:47.930 --> 0:21:52.290 get a little sillier here, maybe. Isaac has a fix 0:21:52.330 --> 0:22:00.700 number eight. Get rid of instant replay entirely. Preach! Five stars. 0:22:01.380 --> 0:22:04.580 I almost have nothing else to add. I'm over this shit. 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:07.980 They got it wrong. Who cares? There'll be another game. 0:22:08.040 --> 0:22:11.160 Guess what? We got a lot of games. There'll definitely 0:22:11.180 --> 0:22:13.940 be another play. Don't worry. We'll have a timeout before 0:22:13.960 --> 0:22:16.890 we get to said play. It'll take a while. Yeah. 0:22:17.970 --> 0:22:22.669 It's just like it ruins the television experience. Ruins when 0:22:22.690 --> 0:22:26.450 you're in the building, for that matter. It is supposed 0:22:26.470 --> 0:22:29.540 to be entertaining. Yes, we want it to be fair, 0:22:30.940 --> 0:22:33.619 but it also needs to be entertaining. And when things 0:22:33.700 --> 0:22:39.199 just come to a crawl in these games, it's brutal. 0:22:40.369 --> 0:22:45.990 So I'd rather live, like I've proposed on controversial calls 0:22:46.050 --> 0:22:49.010 or who's it out on or all that, man, just 0:22:49.050 --> 0:22:51.970