NBA and NBPA Seriously Discussing Major Reforms Including 78-Game Season and Reseeding Playoffs

It's been rumored for years. It's been consistently tossed aside with eye-rolls so loud they made a noise. But now, NBA fans can finally start envisioning the practical implications of a handful of innovative reforms to the league calendar that might just have a chance of becoming reality at long last.

Per Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe of ESPN, the NBA and the Players Association are in "serious" talks to amend the league year, including reducing the regular season from 82 games to no fewer than 78, re-seeding teams for each conference final, and a *gulp* new midseason tournament or play-in games for postseason spots.

They might actually do it, people, and it could all go down at the upcoming NBA Board of Governor's meetings in the spring. Let's break down what's going on here.

Reduce NBA Schedule to 78 Games

In this era of load management, it makes perfect sense to address the length of the season. Commissioner Adam Silver has long said that an 82-game slate isn't sacred. There's nothing special about the number. If you told each team that they'd suddenly be free of four back-to-backs, the implications would be significant in terms of player rest and the reverberations that it has on national TV games, the fan experience, fantasy, gambling and beyond.

Reseeding the NBA Playoffs

Under this proposal, the four remaining teams that make the conference finals will be re-seeded based on regular season record. This notably does away with conference alignment, allowing the opportunity for the league's two "actual" best teams to make it to the Finals.

NBA Playoffs Play-in Games and Midseason Tournament

It's not clear how these two intriguing items would take shape, but Woj and Lowe note that the league and the NBPA are entertaining the idea of both a mid-season tournament of some kind -- who on earth knows what prize would be on the line, whether it be postseason advantages or cold, hard cash -- as well as a play-in scenario for playoff spots. Experimenting with putting up, say, the final No. 8 seed in both conferences to be battled out among the eighth, ninth, 10th, and 11th teams in the standings would be an intriguing proposition indeed.

Get strapped in, hoop fans. At this rate, the basketball landscape could look a whole hell of a lot different come 2020-21. And if and when this all goes down, the game will never be the same.