will NBA allow 'load management'?

[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?

[trickybilly]

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.

[tazzmaniac]

Resting players isn't new.  The NBA won't have a problem with it as long as the stars play in National TV games.  It is in the NBA's interest to have its stars healthy for the playoffs and if that requires load management so be it. 

[Ogaju]

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.

I think if the league markets 82 games to the public for NBA games then the teams should be full strength for all 82 games. That is what you market, that is what the consumers should get. The face of the franchise missing 20 games to rest is not what you marketed to sell season tickets. It is false advertising to sell tickets superstar players and then sit those stars for multiple games without just cause. No, resting is not just cause. If 82 games are too much cut the season down, and re-negotiate all contracts and season ticket prices.

[nickagneta]

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?

[celticsclay]

Resting players isn't new.  The NBA won't have a problem with it as long as the stars play in National TV games.  It is in the NBA's interest to have its stars healthy for the playoffs and if that requires load management so be it.

m
The resting players isn’t new part of this is objectively wrong. There is certainly a new element of load management that did not exist ten years ago. Michael Jordan played 82 games for the wizards at age 39 with a severely screwed knee. Jordan played 80 or more games in 11 of his 13 full seasons. The Celtics had one player play more than 75 games last season. Why would you say something so obviously false?

[celticsclay]

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.

I think if the league markets 82 games to the public for NBA games then the teams should be full strength for all 82 games. That is what you market, that is what the consumers should get. The face of the franchise missing 20 games to rest is not what you marketed to sell season tickets. It is false advertising to sell tickets superstar players and then sit those stars for multiple games without just cause. No, resting is not just cause. If 82 games are too much cut the season down, and re-negotiate all contracts and season ticket prices.

There is a lot of evidence that playing players over certain amounts of minutes increasing injuries and shortens careers (there is a lot of debate on what those numbers are). I don’t think many fans want to see their stars play for a few less years or miss the playoffs for a few extra regular season games. I understand where you are coming from and of it gets extreme where all stars are playing 60 games then the league should shorten the season. However the example of Leonard is bad because he was injured and he actually barely made it through the playoff run even with his load management. He was noticeably limping by the end of the finals

[Ogaju]

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.

[Ogaju]

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.

I think if the league markets 82 games to the public for NBA games then the teams should be full strength for all 82 games. That is what you market, that is what the consumers should get. The face of the franchise missing 20 games to rest is not what you marketed to sell season tickets. It is false advertising to sell tickets superstar players and then sit those stars for multiple games without just cause. No, resting is not just cause. If 82 games are too much cut the season down, and re-negotiate all contracts and season ticket prices.

There is a lot of evidence that playing players over certain amounts of minutes increasing injuries and shortens careers (there is a lot of debate on what those numbers are). I don’t think many fans want to see their stars play for a few less years or miss the playoffs for a few extra regular season games. I understand where you are coming from and of it gets extreme where all stars are playing 60 games then the league should shorten the season. However the example of Leonard is bad because he was injured and he actually barely made it through the playoff run even with his load management. He was noticeably limping by the end of the finals

I hear you, but load management is now a term been thrown around by teams and players. It looks lie it is going to become part of the game. It looks from a sample here that fans will not mind as long as their teams win. That is interesting because teams use stars to market and it seems that the fans here would not mind if they do not get the stars when they attend games.

Maybe the tickets should be discounted for those games the stars do not play just like teams sell certain packages for marquee match ups. They should have packages for load management days.

[PhoSita]

They already have so I don't know why they'd stop.

[Kuberski33]

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.

[Ogaju]

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 being taken as a group.

[OhioGreen]

"What a great country this is", says the league, the owners, the players and the agents!  We can give these idiot fans any crap we want and they are just falling over each other to give us their hard earned money! 
As long as people continue to pay ridiculous prices for games, gear, and TV related programming, and buy sponsors products it will just keep getting worse.  Why else would a team pay a player $40 million dollars NOT TO PLAY!!  How many fans will make anywhere near that in their lifetime?
FANatics better wake up!

[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!!!

[KGs Knee]

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.