Steve Kerr has never been shy. The Golden State Warriors’ head coach has built a reputation as one of the most outspoken personalities in the league, and hasn’t held back in criticisms of the league as well. Now, he’s weighing in on an issue that, according to him, has league-wide repercussions.

“I know this will not be a popular opinion in the league office, but I will continue to say it because it’s obvious,” Kerr told reporters before tonight’s game when asked about the first issue he would address if he were in the position of NBA commissioner Adam Silver. “We need to play fewer games. We need to take 10 games off the schedule. I think it would be great for the league.”

Kerr acknowledged that reducing the number of games around the league would not be an easy decision, especially given the financial implications tied to the current scheduling structure. He did admit that it would be a “really hard thing” to convince all parties involved, including the teams and the league itself, to take a hit to their income.

However, the Warriors coach has remained firm in his belief. According to him, the modern NBA has evolved to the point where players need to increasingly exert themselves physically compared to previous generations.

With teams operating at a faster space and with a large amount of off-ball movement and spacing, a shorter schedule could help improve the overall product, according to Kerr.

“What I know about the league, about coaching, about how hard it is to play the modern game with the pace and the space, I think it would be a more competitive and healthier league if we played fewer games,” Kerr added.

Steve Kerr Has Long Pushed For a Shorter NBA Season, Prioritizing Player Health

This is not even close to the first time that Steve Kerr has suggested cutting down the NBA calendar. Back in April 2022, Kerr made this exact suggestion, highlighting that it would help the issue of load management from an audience perspective.

“To me what makes the most sense is cutting back to maybe a 72 game schedule,” Kerr said back then. “Take 10 games off and get more time to rest in between games. I think you’ll get teams to play their guys more often.”

Even earlier this season, Kerr expressed concern about the rising pace of the game leading to more soft tissue injuries. He explained that teams around the league want to get out in transition, causing games to be much faster paced, contributing to the three-point heavy run-and-gun type offenses we see.

Kerr said back then that he had voiced his opinions to the league, but doubted that any change would happen due to the loss of money involved.

“Good luck, in any industry,” he had said. “Imagine some big company saying, ‘You know what? We’re not as concerned about our stock price. We’re actually concerned with employing people and giving people a stable job and making our product better.’ Come on, that’s not happening. We know that.”

For now, it seems unlikely that any scheduling change is happening. However, if Steve Kerr were at the helm, things would probably be different.