NBA commissioner Adam Silver 'a fan' of 10-minute quarters - ESPN

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday that he likes the idea of shortening games to 40 minutes by going from 12-minute quarters to 10.

«As we get more involved in global basketball, the NBA is the only league that plays 48 minutes. And I would be — I am — a fan of four 10-minute quarters,» Silver said during an afternoon appearance on «The Dan Patrick Show.» «I'm not sure that many others are. Putting aside what it means for records and things like that, yeah, I think that a two-hour format for a game is more consistent with modern television habits.»

NBA games this season have run 2 hours, 16 minutes on average, nearly identical to the past 15 seasons (2:15, according to data from ESPN Research).

«I think of a television program being two hours, Olympic basketball being two hours. And college basketball, of course, is 40 minutes,» Silver told Patrick.

Silver's remark came in response to Patrick's question about something league officials have discussed potentially changing in the future. Silver also said that awarding two free throws to shooters who are fouled on 3-point attempts has been mentioned in conversations.

Altering the length of the game — which, at 48 minutes, has been the same throughout the league's 78-year history — could have a drastic impact on the sport in ways big and small.

A number of single-game and single-season records probably would become untouchable, and a number of the league's stars could credibly play entire games more frequently. (Mikal Bridges of the New York Knicks currently leads the NBA in playing time, averaging 38.4 minutes.)

Even if players couldn't go the distance, their ability to play a greater percentage of the game's minutes could have a cascading effect on how much role