NBA Puts Its Foot Down on Players Sitting Out Games
Load management has been a problem in the NBA for years and the league wants to end it.
Last Wednesday the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved stricter resting policy rules and punishments for star players sitting out of games. This includes national TV and in-season tournament games. There will also be punishments for teams sitting out multiple stars.
Commissioner Adam Silver announced the new Player Participation Policy (PPP). Saying it is something “everyone in the league” wanted. This includes owners, management, coaches, the National Basketball Players Association, and specific players. This policy was “ultimately about the fans,” said Silver.
The goal of this policy is to keep players on the court. If you are healthy you are going to play plain and simple. In recent seasons stars and their teams would try to limit injuries so they would sit out of certain games. Fans feel cheated when they can’t see their favorite player. It hurts the integrity of the game when a star misses a game but can play.
Silver said the ruling is a “changed approach to reinforcing the notion that we’re an 82-game league.”
Back in April the league put in a minimum for awards and honors, a player must play 65 out of the 82 games in the regular season to be considered. This was created as an incentive for players to perform and drive them to be on a list like All-NBA or even be recognized for awards like MVP.
During the 2017-28 season, the league put in a policy to stop load management, but teams were still resting multiple players.
“We’re trying to deal with some of the most egregious examples,” Silver said. “Where multiple star players, for example, healthy, healthy all out on the same night. We’re letting down the fans, we’re letting down our partners by doing that.”
A star player is someone who has made the All-Star or All-NBA team in the past three seasons.
The new PPP mandate that starts this season is:
- Rest no more than one-star player from a game. (For purposes of the restrictions, a “star player” is defined as someone who has been an All-Star or an All-NBA selection in any of the past three seasons. It also will impact the balance of the scheduled players named to that season’s All-Star teams.)
- Make star players available for nationally televised games and In-Season Tournament games.
- Balance the number of one-game “rest” absences a star player accrues in home games vs. road games, with a recommendation that a player more often sit out at home.
- Refrain from any long-term “shutdown” when a star stops participating in games or appears only in a materially reduced role that could affect the integrity of the game.
- Have any healthy players resting for a game present and visible to fans.
The policy does have exceptions like injuries or personal absences. There are pre-approved absences for back-to-backs such as a player’s age, career workload or serious injuries in the past. For example, players like Lebron James, Kevin Durant, and other players who are at least 35 years old at the start of the season or have logged 34,000 career minutes or played in over 1,000 games will fall into this category. Teams must notify the league in writing a week in advance of why this player will be limited.
In the event of any questionable absences, the league can investigate and order an independent medical review.
There will be a fine system for teams that violate PPP. The first offense will be $100,000, the second offense $250,000 after that a third would be at least $1 million per violation.
There are coaches and front office people who cite injury data for a decrease in a player’s usage, but Silver said the science is inconclusive. Silver also said the league will continue to study injury data and science to see how much rest a player needs.
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