NBA commissioner Adam Silver isn’t a stickler for tweaks and making significant changes that benefit his league. Throughout his tenure, Silver has made unprecedented changes, including an In-Season Tournament for the NBA Cup, changes to the format of the All-Star Game, and finishing the 2019-20 campaign inside a bubble amid the COVID-19 shutdown. However, is shortening games the next step?

Silver discussed the possibility of shortening NBA games per the Dan Patrick Show.

“Something else that I’m a fan of, and I’m probably in the minority, but as we get more involved in global basketball, the NBA is the only league that plays 48 minutes. I am a fan of 4 10 minute quarters; I’m not sure many others are. Putting aside what that means for records and things like that. I think a 2-hour format for a game is more consistent for modern television habits. People in arenas aren’t asking us to shorten the game.”

If the NBA were to make such a drastic change, it would be years before it’s official.

“It’s such a dramatic change to the game,” Silver added. “I think something like that would have to be talked about more over time.”

Many of the changes made, including the coach’s challenges, the everchanging All-Star Game format, and the league’s NBA Cup, all took years to come to fruition. Still, Silver isn’t opposed to the idea.

Adam Silver hints at a possible 10-minute quarter change in the NBA

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NBA commissioner Adam Silver is open to a potential shift in the duration of games. While the association’s 12-minute quarters aren’t the same standard in which basketball is played globally, shortening the games would put them on par with the rest of the leagues worldwide.

This is one of the many reasons Silver is open to the idea.

“As we get more involved in global basketball, the NBA is the only league that plays 48 minutes. I am a fan of four 10-minute quarters. I’m not sure that many others are,” Silver said. “I mean, putting aside what it means for records and things like that – I think a two-hour format for a game is more consistent with sort of modern television habits. People in arenas aren’t asking us to shorten the game, but I think as a television program being two hours – it’s Olympic basketball being two hours, college basketball, of course, is.”

Silver says the idea of shortening the game has nothing to do with the league’s viewership.