The NBA has taken a beating from the media and fans for their problems with “load management.”
Every fan that pays money to go to games wants to see the best players play.
But, that has not been the case in the NBA over the past few seasons.
We see plenty of star players sit out for rest purposes, and that is killing the product.
NBA Legend Charles Barkley has a strong message for the players about load management.
Charles Barkley weighs in on load management in the NBA:
"You can't make $30, $40, $50 million and then sit out games. I think it's disrespectful to the game, I think it's disrespectful to the fans." pic.twitter.com/WLFTnhRCV7
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 27, 2023
Barkley makes a great point about how the players are being paid so much money, the least they can do is play.
The league has limited back-to-backs and an 82-game schedule should not be daunting.
We see MLB players play 162 games and go out there almost every night.
There should be no reason these NBA stars can not play in every game, when healthy.
The NBA Commissioner needs to find a solution to this problem.
He could choose to fine players that sit out due to “load management,” or give a large incentive to players that play in every game.
The league is better as a whole when the best players are on the court every night.
One thing that might feed into players feeling like they can take nights off is the play-in tournament.
Now that 10 teams have a shot at the playoffs, players probably feel like they can sit out games and not have to worry about missing the postseason.
But, if the NBA would agree to shorten the playoff field, more players would feel pressure to play to get to the playoffs.
There seems to be no good solution for “load management” as of now, but hopefully, there will be sooner rather than later.
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