Warriors' Steve Kerr thinks a 72-game schedule would prevent teams from resting star players

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league is hunting for ways to incentivize teams to play their best lineups throughout the season. Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr thinks a shorter regular-season schedule is the answer.

"To me, what makes the most sense is cutting back to maybe a 72-game schedule," Kerr said Saturday, via Mark Haynes of Clutch Points. "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."

Earlier in the week, Silver said at a press conference that the NBA wants to combat the "trend of star players not participating in a full complement of games." While he said injuries play a large factor, the league is also looking at "creating other incentives" that keep teams fighting for wins.

Silver also said, "If we have too many games, that's something we should look at as well."

The NBA played a 60-game schedule during its inaugural season in 1948-49. (The league was called the Basketball Association of America at the time.) As more teams were added to the league and it merged with the National Basketball League to form the NBA, an 80-game schedule was created for the 1961-62 season. By the 1967-68 season, it was an 82-game schedule and it has remained as such for more than five decades.