Remember how the Dallas ended an embarrassing 2022-2023 season by not wearing Kyrie Irving
in lieu of trying to qualify for Play-in Tournaments? The NFL is destroying the NBA in ratings.The board of governors will vote on measures next week that will severely deter star players from resting. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that new guidelines will include increased fines for star players who rest during nationally-televised matches, as well as for those who sit more than one player at the same time. The fine for a second offense will be $250,000 and every subsequent offense will be $1 million. Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that the proposed measures define a star player as any player who made a .
As shown by the NBA’s harsh fine against the Mavericks team, the league has the power to punish teams that rest players. I’m actually in favor of franchises getting fined if they rest players during nationally-televised games. The games aired on ESPN/ABC and TNT are supposed to be the NBA’s premiere product whether they are played in May or November.all-star or All-NBA team in the last three seasonsWith national television contracts expiring in 2025, the league is showing its television partners that their pain has been noticed, and real solutions are being considered. How can the NBA prove that the Los Angeles Clippers
sat Kawhi Leonard down for a TNT Tuesday game in December and changed the designation to “injury management”? He may have played three games in a row, but his knee might be sore on that night. Therefore, he won’t play until Friday. Professional athletes are often injured, and these injuries can sometimes linger. It’s possible that the player’s hamstring still needs to be treated. The hamstring will need to be treated to prevent the player from being sidelined for another period. The trainers can tell the coaching staff not to use the player consecutively as part of the treatment. The NBA schedule is brutal. Feel free to complain about how much more comfortable travel is than it used to be, as well as the advancements in medicine and equipment while scolding players for not desiring to play in 82 games — especially when they don’t have a say in that matter.
Players in the NBA are coming into the league at 19 years old with more miles on their legs than Patrick Ewing did when he graduated from Georgetown in 1985. The NBA players have to cover more distance on the court now than ever before. This requires them to change directions quickly. Travel is a nightmare for Magic Johnson’s NBA now that there are 30 teams instead of 23 in his first year. The average number of miles that the players traveled in these chartered jets was more than any
professional athlete in any other sport. Resting players is an inconvenience, but it’s also inevitable. Player rest is an inconvenience, but it is also inevitable.The grind is brutal, so sometimes a night off for players who aren’t technically “injured” is the best way to keep players from spending two week’s worth of games in a Gucci bucket hat instead of a jersey.
It would be best if teams didn’t sit their players for nationally televised games, but if the doctors say a player needs to sit, there is no rule the NBA b
oard of governors can pass to get that player on the floor.