Injury-ridden Postseason Calls for Shorter Schedule

Derrick Rose. Rajon Rondo. Danny Granger. Kobe Bryant. David Lee. Russell Westbrook. What do all of these players have in common? Answer: All of them are sitting out injured while their teams compete in the NBA Playoffs. Yes, the playoffs are definitely in full swing, but something just doesn't seem right. So many of the game's brightest stars are sidelined with injuries that fans have had to watch the likes of Andrew Goudelock and Nazr Mohammed play key roles for their teams. While those stories are nice, the game is not putting the best product on the floor in the most competitive time of the season.

With the news that Russell Westbrook would miss the remainder of the season, the West suddenly became a little bit more open. Now, rather than an obvious Heat-Thunder rematch, the Spurs, Nuggets or Clippers may emerge. That is, if the Nuggets can first get past the Warriors who have injury troubles of their own. David Lee tore his hip flexor after Game 1, but Golden State has bounced back nicely. Still, can they maintain their play without one of the most productive big men on the court?

In the East, two of the game's best point guards are absent from the postseason. Rose has missed the entire season while Rondo has been out since late-January. While the Bulls look like they will defeat the Brooklyn Nets in the first round, there is no doubt a healthy Rose would help this team tremendously. For the Celtics, a first round exit seems imminent and, while Rondo may not have been able to prevent that, he would have helped the C's cause greatly because of his quickness and the Knicks' point guards' age.

And then there's Kobe Bryant. Why I must see ESPN debate his tweets is beyond me and it definitely doesn't seem right. The fact that the playoffs are on and the Lakers should be in an enticing series with San Antonio, but don't have Kobe is just plain wrong. One of the league's best players is sidelined in one of his final seasons. That's a major blow to the game and it's been a major blow to that series as the Spurs have mopped the floor with the battered Lakers.

On top of all that, players like Joakim Noah, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson and Steve Nash have battled injuries that have kept them off the court or limited their minutes in the first round. Far too many stars are dealing with injuries for this playoffs to be as great as it's potential.

But how to prevent something like this? In reality, this can't be prevented. Injuries happen all the time and for whatever reason the stars are falling like dominoes. That said, the NBA could shorten their regular season schedule and that may help. During the lockout-shortened season the schedule was just 66 games long compared to the normal 82. Adapting the 66-game schedule would benefit the competition, the health and the players.

82 games is a lot and it means that not every game means something. There are plenty of throwaway games and that's why teams rest their better players often. David Stern has said he would like to limit this somehow and the simple solution would be to shorten the schedule. By doing so, the regular season would be more competitive and teams would not have the luxury of so many throwaway games.

The shorter schedule would also help the health of players as the wear-and-tear on their bodies would not be as great. This could potentially mean that less stars are injured and the playoffs would have the best players on the floor. It's a move that the league should look in to because it helps them out in multiple ways.

The NBA is entertainment and the best entertainment is when the best players are out there. This playoffs may still be good, but it won't contain the brightest stars. That's something that the league can't have and it's something the fans don't want. If the NBA wants to improve their product then my advice is to shorten the schedule.