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Relief for LeBron James?

Cavaliers forward LeBron James has already logged 41,081 minutes in his NBA career. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

It was only three months ago when some of the NBA's biggest stars clamored for a shorter season.

Speaking for his peers before a preseason game, LeBron James said, "We all as players think [82 is] too many games" in the NBA schedule. Fellow former MVP Dirk Nowitzki recommended that the league slice the season down to the mid-60s, saying the litany of back-to-backs "hurts the product some."

These comments came on the heels of the NBA league office experimenting with a 44-minute preseason game. Such a change would significantly cut down on the number of total minutes teams play in a season, but maybe not on the number star players who would likely see the same playing time regardless of the game length.