NBA Load Management

It is quite common in modern NBA to see top-notch basketball players rest in regular season games. The reigning finals MVP Kawhi Leonard is the central figure who has been criticized by numerous NBA fans for deliberately sitting back-to-back games out due to load management. He even missed two consecutive nationally televised games, provoking resentment among NBA fans.

This decision is called load management, and it is a problem which arose because more and more NBA teams are taking strategic approaches to increase their chance of winning the championship. One of the approaches includes maintaining key players in peak condition until the postseason by offering them intermittent rests during the regular season. The reasoning behind this is that regular season games become meaningless if the team already has a solid chance at making the playoffs. This problem raises a question of whether or not the pursuit of long-term success through giving up short-term pleasure for NBA fans is justifiable.

Although the key players can maintain good shape throughout the season if they have frequent rests, the commercial side of NBA games can be negatively affected. From commercial standpoints, many ardent Clippers fans who bought the season ticket just to see Kawhi Leonard put down impressive moves are livid. Furthermore, there are many audience members who have been waiting for this moment all year long. For instance, imagine a life-time Leonard fan who saved money just to see him play on a particular day, but instead has to watch a humdrum game without Leonard’s presence. The fan might lose interest in the game of basketball and this might decrease the size of NBA market.

In response to the load management problem, NBA superstar Lebron James shared his opinion on this viral topic. He believes that if a player is not recovering from any injury, it is his or her responsibility to play all 82 regular season games for the sake of fans. He also stated that he always feels energetic whenever he steps on the court and hears a hubbub of shouting from the crowd.

As a passionate NBA fan, I initially thought load management problem was not a huge deal, because missing a couple of games to prevent injury is more beneficial in the long term for players and NBA fans alike. However, I did not consider the perspective of hundreds of thousands of ardent NBA fans anticipating the matchup between star players. I believe that the NBA league has to intervene more and create incentives for players to chase and ensure that we get to see the matchups we want.