As the schedule of last season was very tight, with 72 matches to be played between December 22 and May 16, the NBA had in particular established a system of “two-way” matches. That is to say a back-to-back but between the same two teams, in the same room.
Thus short trips and trips were limited. A system that has appealed to franchises, if we are to believe the words of Evan Wasch, vice-president of the NBA in charge of “Basketball Strategy & Analytics”.
“As for the teams, especially in sport, it was almost unanimously considered positive”, he explains to The Crossover podcast. “Because it limited the routes of matches to be played away from home, so we no longer systematically travel before matches. And the teams that play at home have enjoyed facing the same opponent. For the preparation, especially the playoff series, playing the same team with this pace, they liked that. So all of this was positive. “
And among the players?
“The players’ feedback was more mixed. It was interesting because some players, especially when it came to our big markets, said that two trips to these cities was not that bad. They have nothing against the series system, round trip, but not in some cities, because they wanted to go twice. “
Can this system continue and become a constant in the schedule of a regular season with a return to normal? Obviously, it is still unclear because this first experience, in 2020/2021, did not take place under normal conditions with the Covid-19.
“The big unknown is the financial impact and that on the fans”, conclut Evan Wasch. “Because last season, we had no or few spectators in the theaters, and therefore we did not really look back on the crowds and the interest of the fans. So we want to see the impact of this decision, that of playing the same game twice, before deciding on the next few years. We will take a close look at the data before going into it thoroughly. “
