For as long as I have been a sports fan, the NBA has been my favorite league, as well as the one I keep up with the most.  

It was not hard to get hooked on either, as the early 2010s was a great period for basketball: Kobe Bryant had just won his fifth title for the Los Angeles Lakers after a game-seven win against their rival Boston Celtics, superstar LeBron James had just signed a league-altering deal to team up with Dywane Wade and Chris Bosh for the Miami Heat and the league had several exciting emerging stars, including Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook.  

Fast-forward about 15 years, and despite LeBron James, Kevin Durant and even Russel Westbrook still playing great basketball this season, the game has been in decline. The ratings back this up, with the NBA averaging around 25% less in viewership from last season in games on their major nationwide networks such as ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBA TV.  

I see this decline in viewership myself, too, as within my circles. My friends will choose to watch a football, soccer, baseball or even a random college basketball game over a regular season NBA game. This is shocking to me, since I would argue that LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephan Curry are far more renowned than most stars in those other leagues, including the NFL. 

That being said, the NBA’s issues are deeper than the league’s current stars. Here are a few that stood out to me while watching these past few years.  

Disclaimer: in this article, I am leaving out any discussion of the All-Star Game since, in my opinion, it is a waste of time, and the league should stop trying to fix it. 

Load management 

This has become a triggering phrase in NBA circles. What started as the occasional sitting out of stars — largely by the San Antonio Spurs — has now spread rampant around the league like a virus. Now, players openly choose to sit out of games in fear of re-aggravating an injury or to have more rest. While the league recently tried to combat this with their “65 game rule,” which disqualified players from league awards and “all NBA” titles if they miss more than that number of games, players do not seem to care, and the stubbornness of players will always win out.  

The result is a league where you have no idea who will play each game — besides with Joel Embiid: Odds are he will not play. When the NBA tries to promote a primetime Thursday night Lakers vs. Warriors game as “LeBron James vs Stephen Curry,” and you turn on the game only to see “Austin Reaves vs. Andrew Wiggins,” safe to say fans will not be too happy.  

Style of play 

The next major issue is simply the way the game is played. We all loved Stephen Curry when he rained 3s over everyone in the league, but now that every team’s offense revolves around the 3-point line, the games feel repetitive. It is rare — outside of maybe Ja Morant and Anthony Edwards — that you see a player mercilessly attack the rim, something I loved growing up with Lebron and even guys like Blake Griffin. 

This play perfectly encapsulates the modern-day fastbreak that, while it may be analytically backed, is certainly less entertaining. The stats show that with each year passing, teams are shooting more and more threes. Ten years ago, in the 2014-2015 season, the team with the most 3-point attempts per game was the Houston Rockets, who averaged 31 attempts per game. If that Rockets team played today, they would be No. 29 — second to last — in 3-point attempts per game. The more teams chuck up three-point shots, the more predictable the game becomes, as teams live and die with how well they shoot from beyond the arc.  

NBA TV/media coverage 

The final major issue with the NBA today is how the league presents itself to the public. The NBA is currently in a transition period, with its three biggest stars — James, Durant and Curry — all on the brink of retirement. Because of this, the league is trying to milk the most out of them, constantly putting them on national TV.  

While this has sometimes paid off — the Lakers vs. Warriors Christmas Day game was a classic — the NBA coverage needs to transition along with the league and turn its focus on the next generation of rising stars. My current favorite player to watch is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the point guard of the best team in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder. While Gilgeous-Alexander is certainly well known among basketball watchers, I had to explain to my parents who he was when I turned a Thunder game on over winter break.  

In fact, the top three teams in the West — Oklahoma City, Houston and Memphis — are loaded with young talent, and they are all barely discussed or aired nationally, largely due to their being in smaller markets.  

I did an experiment where I looked up “first take NBA” on YouTube to see what came up.  

As you can see, the top two videos had nothing to do with basketball, as even midway through the NBA season, Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe could not resist engaging in the classic “Lebron vs. Michael Jordan” debate.  

It also does not help anyone that most talk surrounding the NBA is negative, whether that is criticizing players or discrediting an achievement by comparing them to an older player.  

My solution 

I think both the “load management” and “style of play” issues can be solved with a shorter season. Let us say a season is 65 games, which is 17 fewer than the current 82. A 65-game season, for one, gives the NBA room within its calendar to space out its games, giving players more rest and recovery time. Spacing out the calendar can give way to the NBA establishing some days, or even holidays, as their own, just like how the NFL has Sundays and college football has Saturdays.  

Fewer games also increase the weight and competitiveness of each game for a ticket into the playoffs. As a result, players have way more of an incentive to try, which will give way to much closer games.  

More intense basketball can indirectly lead to fewer 3s. Of course, this will not apply to all teams, as the Celtics and the Golden State Warriors still thrive off the 3-point line, but there is a reason why the more physical “playoff basketball” stands out amongst the average regular season games. Of course, the main concern of shortening the season from the league’s perspective would be cutting the revenue earned from each game, which is probably why it will not happen, but to get more eyes on the league, it might be necessary.  

As far as TV coverage goes, the NBA needs to be more flexible with its national TV schedule, similarly to how the NFL is able to “flex” better games into primetime at the last minute. This will allow them to adjust to last-minute injuries and ensure that the viewing experience is the best it possibly can be.  

On top of that, simply showcase the young guys more. Morant, Edwards and Gilgeous-Alexander are not only some of the best NBA players alive right now but the most fun to watch. Even Giannis Antetokounmpo barely gets an appearance on national TV, which is a problem.  

While the league is far from returning to its “glory days,” these changes would surely bring excitement back to the league.