Deeming to $1,000,000 Load Management Fine, Can an NBA Player Avoid the Exorbitant Bill by Playing for Only 30 Seconds?

The NBA is one of the most popular sports in the world and according to statistics from the NBA; the league reaches around 1.5 billion people across 215 countries and territories. But when it comes to viewership numbers, the league pales in comparison to the NFL. On Christmas, the NFL averaged around 21.88 million views. Whereas the NBA only managed 4.318 million viewers, that’s almost five times less.

The principal reason people aren’t tuning in to watch the NBA is because of load management and major NBA stars sitting out regular season games.

Nipping the Problem in the Bud

The NBA season is grueling and quite demanding on the players’ bodies. The season starts in late October and finishes by mid-June, which is almost nine months. Inevitably, the players are going to get injured and could face severe setbacks on their basketball journey. To minimize the risk of injuries to their players, teams started resting them in inconsequential games and that practice caught on in the league. Stars such as James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Anthony Davis all played less than 60 regular season games. And if the league’s best players aren’t participating, then the fans won’t tune in to watch.

To combat this practice, the NBA had announced new rules that would penalize the perpetrators heavily. This was recently discussed on the Hoops Collective Podcast, hosted by ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst. The host, along with guests Tim Bontemps and Tim McMahon, discussed if the teams could find a loophole in the new rules. To which Tim Bontemps said, “I did check on one thing with these new rules and I can’t say this with 100% certainty. But my understanding is say, a team plays back-to-back games and they decide to ‘not rest a guy’ and play him for 30 seconds or a minute. My strong belief is that the league will investigate that and potentially punch teams for that.”

What are the New Rules and Regulations?

The new rules and regulations make it much harder for teams to rest their star players for inconsequential games. The new rules also state that the players must play 65 regular season games in order to be eligible for the end-of-the-season awards such as MVP, Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), and Rookie of the Year. The NBA will also incorporate a fine system for teams that begins with $100,000 for first offenses. This increases later to $250,000 for second offenses and $1 million for every additional penalty.

Read More: Despite Firing 50+ Employees, NBA’s $465 Million Worth Partner Stands Tall in the Ongoing NFL Season

Do you think it is valid for teams to be fined such exorbitant amounts? Or do you think this will help get in more viewers gradually? Which side of the debate are you on? Let us know in the comments below!

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