will NBA allow 'load management'?

[RockinRyA]

I think it's a bunch of crap! So today's players with all the better training, eating, taking care of their bodies better can't play a whole season like the old players that drank, smoked, ate what they wanted did? At their age they just need to man up!!!

Well, they certainly played longer and have longer prime years.

The game is faster as well, and you are competing against guys that also receive those better training, diet etc.

[Surferdad]

I would much rather have load management than changing to a shorter season.  Yeah, there will be couple of times when fans will be disappointed to not see a given superstar after spending so much money on tickets.  Thems the breaks.

[Celtics4ever]

Coaches already do this all the time.

[mctyson]

I don't know about this "having a right to feel cheated".

Don't I also have the right to feel cheated if I go to a game 7, and my guy is missing just a little bit in the tank and we lose the championship?

Looks like a pure business decision to me. League should stay out of policing teams' decisions about load.

No, because everyone has the same amount of games scheduled and therefore the final two teams have the same workload throughout the season.

People who pay for tickets upfront, with the expectation that they are going to see Lebron play when the Lakers come to Boston, are getting "cheated" when he sits out to rest.

I am a big proponent of shortening the season for this reason but I still feel teams will sit guys out on back-to-backs, or against lower competition, so there really is no perfect solution.

[Surferdad]

Coaches already do this all the time.

This is the Greg Popovich legacy.  He started doing it when Kawai was there, and it spread through the league.  It's not a new thing, and there is no practical way to prevent it because the league cannot doubt the medical staff of a team if they say a player can't go.  Fatigue and/or exhaustion are real medical conditions.

[pearljammer10]

Coaches already do this all the time.

This is the Greg Popovich legacy.  He started doing it when Kawai was there, and it spread through the league.  It's not a new thing, and there is no practical way to prevent it because the league cannot doubt the medical staff of a team if they say a player can't go.  Fatigue and/or exhaustion are real medical conditions.

He did it long before Kawhi was there.

[gift]

The league improved their schedule to help teams allow for load management.

[tazzmaniac]

The NBA's biggest cash cow is the network television deals. It's those deals that have made the NBA the very profitable business it is. As long as the stars aren't regularly out due to load management during nationally televised games and so, affecting ratings negatively, they are not going to care about "load management".

Heck, maybe the league would prefer more "load management". Maybe if Durant was "load managed" better he doesn't get hurt in the playoffs and instead of Toronto in six the Finals was some epic 7 game series showdown between Durant and Kawhi with the TV ratings through the roof!

Are Toronto season ticket holders complaining about Kawhi's "load management"? Is there any anger in that season ticket fanbase because Kawhi didn't play in all 41 home games?

you obviously weigh winning above entertainment. Ask the fan that saved up to buy a ticket to see Kawhi Leonard play, but could not because he was resting. Ask him if he was okay because Toronto still won the championship? Ask him the same question if he went to games twenty times, and all twenty times Kawhi was out resting? There is a reason David Stern did not allow this, but with Silver he lets players get away with a lot. If 82 games are too much for the players, cut down the number of games, but do not sell a product for 82 games and then only provide the full show in 60 games OR tell the fans that they shoudl only expect the star players on the marketing brochures in 60 of the 82 games.

I agree with you but the players don't care - and right now they have too much power. NBA fans are like lemmings - they just consume what the league feeds them and don't complain.  This may be a result of their younger demographic which (my opinion only) I don't think knows any better. They don't get when they're being taken advantage of.

However, we also need to take into account the number of key injuries that have occurred late in the season and during the playoffs in recent years.  There have been a bunch. 

The answer is a shorter season or shorter playoffs but don't bet on either occurring given all the money coming in.

yep, way too much power when the employee tells the employer where he will work whom he will work with, and now how many times he will actually show up for work, yet we have people arguing that is cool. Consumers are too consumed with team loyalty that they do not know they are been taken as a group.

In most cases, it is the team that wants to practice "load management" not the players.  AD was asked about load management and he said he wasn't going to be load managed.  Until they get older and smarter, players see sitting out to rest as a weakness and a challenge to their toughness. 

The Sixers did not practice good load management with Embiid last season.  Playing him 54 of their 1st 58 games was idiotic.  He ended up playing 10 of their remaining 24 games and he wasn't fully healthy in the playoffs which may have cost them a championship.  From his post season comments, it sounds like Embiid himself was a big reason for the poor load management. 

[dreamgreen]

I think it's a bunch of crap! So today's players with all the better training, eating, taking care of their bodies better can't play a whole season like the old players that drank, smoked, ate what they wanted did? At their age they just need to man up!!!

Well, they certainly played longer and have longer prime years.

The game is faster as well, and you are competing against guys that also receive those better training, diet etc.

It's true but I still don't get guys in their late 20's early 30's needing it. I didn't notice my body needing more rest until my late 30's and these guys are genetically superior to me. How many games did Bird, Magic, Jordan and guys like that take off a year? Add to that the league improved the schedule for this "load management" crap. Sounds like laziness to me unless you're trying to manage someone recovering from in injury.

[Ogaju]

this is a new term that is being thrown around in the new NBA. One could say Kawhi took it to another level when he played only 60 regular season games with no apparent injury. Here is the problem both from an entertainment and competition perspective.

Entertainment wise this is problematic because season ticket holders pay to watch a product that was marketed by the team. If you market a superstar laden team then the expectation is that the you watch a team with stars and not scrubs, therefore if Kawhi for example is healthy, he should play otherwise season ticket holders have a right to feel cheated.

Single ticket purchasers that purchase a ticket to watch lets say the Lakers have a right to feel cheated if LeBron is healthy but does not play on the day they bought a ticket. Some people save up for this experience and have a right to be disappointed if the team fields a team different from what was advertised just to rest players.

From a competition perspective it is unfair advantage for one team to rest its star for 20 games a season just to have fresh legs in the playoffs. It sure appears that Kawhi had an advantage over other stars in the playoffs because he played significantly less games than other stars.

It is my opinion that if the NBA allows this new practice of load management (sitting healthy players) it will  have a credibility problem with its consumers and sponsors

David Stern understood this problem and that is why he fined Spurs for resting healthy players. How did Silver allow Toronto to get away with resting Kawhi?

Here's a suggestion: either get used to things being the way they are or find a different sport to watch.

The NBA isn't changing the way it operates because most fans don't have an issue with it. If you do have an issue with it you are free to stop watching. If you are just going to complain and complain and complain some more, while continuing to watch, your complaints ultimately ring hollow and are nothing more than empty words.

Personally, I have zero issue with teams periodically resting players to keep them fresh for the actual meaningful games (playoffs). The regular season just isn't that important to me. It's entertaining, but on a much more league wide scale than any particular individual game.

The NBA will change the way it operates when their bottom line starts being affected. Right now the league is more profitable than ever. There's no reason for them to do a [dang] thing different.

You just hate discussing trends within the game. You personalize your responses, and your conclusion is usually if you do not like it do not watch. What about if you do not like it see what can be done to make it better.

Your response for the NBA smacks of hubris. And as the saying goes, 'pride goes before the fall.' I am glad many others get exactly what I am saying.

[Ogaju]

To those who think this thread is unnecessary, I have certainly have learned some things from this discussion.

1. Some fans are going to accept whatever the league gives them.

2. If I buy tickets to games hoping to see the marquee stars play I increase my prospects if I buy tickets for nationally televised games, and try to stay away from back to backs.

3. When teams start to load manage, fans must try to manage their money better.

4, if load management is here to stay, smart teams must include this factor in roster construction.

[nickagneta]

Here is the problem with your complaints, they are for an extremely small portion of the entirety of the NBA's viewing audience.

First off, you are assuming most people buy tickets to games at their favorite team's home arena to see superstars. That's a bad assumption. Most season ticket buyers buy tickets to watch their favorite team play, not just because they want to see certain players, though that is a draw but a very minor draw. You can see this in just the Celtics attendence which has barely fluctuated since 2007-08, regardless of if the team had a star or not or was good or not. Most fans, especially season ticket holders, follow the team and watch the team.

I also believe that the very vast section of the viewing audience accepts that injuries happen and that when you buy a ticket, you run the peril of not seeing every player on either team perform.

Players get hurt. Players get sick. Players have family members die. Players get suspended. Players need time off to handle personal matters. And players need time off to rest because exhaustion is a real thing and needs to be managed. If you buy a ticket, these realities need to be accepted by the person buying the ticket. As the WWE like to say, and I think actually put on their advertising and tickets: "Card subject to change!" It's no different with any pro sport: Whoever is on the teams playing is subject to not performing for a large number of possible reasons, one being load management.

If you aren't happy with that, don't buy the ticket, someone else will, at least in most NBA markets they will.

If you are someone who watches your team on TV and a superstar isn't going to play that you like, switch the channel. Some people do this but judging by their robust ratings, people aren't switching off in droves because a player isn't playing. The NBA is losing some viewership, but not to load management complaints.

This load management stuff you are bringing up just is not a big deal. Again, ask the season ticket holders in Toronto if they minded Kawhi missing some home games this year to load management. Ask, Toronto fans who watch on TV if they minded Kawhi being load managed. Now go ask those same people in Golden State if they wish Durant was load managed. See what you get for results. This just is not as big an issue as you are making it.

[GreenEnvy]

The season has been 82 games forever.

This is a new issue that has arisen within the last decade or so.

Divas running the NBA no longer want to play that many games. The League addressed it by starting the regular season a couple weeks earlier to make less back-to-backs and three-in-four-nights

Still isn’t good enough for these divas, they just don’t want to play as much. If we cut it down to 74 games, they would want to play 66. If we cut it to 66, they would want to play 60.

Would love to know how many games Bird, Magic, Jordan, etc. missed due to “load management?”

[bellerephon]

I think part of the problem is the amount of time players work out and play during off times. This is becoming a real problem at the college and high school level, doctors are seeing more and more injuries as young players spend most if not all their time focusing on one sport. I think it's an issue in the pros as well, players took more time off to let their bodies recover in the past, now guys work out and play year round, and it takes a toll.