Since David Stern is thinking of having six divisions with the new Charlotte franchise, this would make a great opportunity to make the NBA more interesting with more games against division opponents. He can set it up so that the play 1) 6 games against your division(6 games x 4 other teams=24 games) 2) 4 games agains other conference teams(4 x 10 teams=40 games) 3) 1 game against the non-conference team(1 x 15 team=15 games) That would make the schedule 79 games with a chance to see your division rivals 3 times in your home stadium and 6 times total for the season.
lol... I like the new divisions. Then New Orleans can be in the Western Conference. They can move Minnesota to the East. I just hope we aren't in the same division with Dallas and San Antonio. The Kings and Lakers can have more fights!
How about this: schedule 8 games against each division opponent and two games against every other opponent (32 division games and 50 non division games). This means more road games closer to the team's home city, shorter road trips, less flight time (cheaper fuel and flight expenses??), and less games starting at 9:30 pm... Or, go with my theory of less is more. Get rid of the Clippers and the Hawks, since nobody cares about those two teams in the first place and keep the four division format...
The Owners agree to a REDUCED sked? Not in my lifetime. 82 games it'll be. Maybe it would be easiest to expand to 32 teams and get a more readily balanced schedule + $300 million X 2. $20 mil more per Owner? That makes sense. Or dollars, to them.
