Is the NBA’s New Resting Policy Going to Have an Effect on Preseason Games?

Load management has been a hot-button issue in the NBA for quite a bit now. To extend the careers of superstars, various managements adhere to this approach. While the practice has always existed in vague ways, coaches have been carefully managing their players over the last decade more than ever. Gregg Popovich did it to avoid career-ending injuries to Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. As he kept taking further flight in his career, now, Kawhi Leonard, once the rising star of Pop, is looking to do the same. 

However, the road has been rocky. Ever since winning the championship with the Raptors in 2019, the Forward has disappeared. He has had a strange tenure with the Clippers. Even after being load-managed a lot, he remains injury-prone. So, in this case, the league’s administration started to wonder why should they lose the money just because of load management. Hence, the board of governors rolled out a policy. What is this policy and what are its applications?

New policy becomes more formidable

The Player Participation Policy(PPP) restricts teams from resting “star players”, especially during multiple games. According to the policy, star players are the ones who have been in any All-Star or All-NBA team during the preceding three seasons. The existing PRP (Player Resting Policy) already curbed a franchise’s ability to rest a star player during a national TV fixture. The policy aimed to put a stop to teams resting on multiple players during away games. However, the new PPP guidelines are much more strict.

If a team has multiple “star players” then they have to play at least one of them. These policies can impact teams like the Los Angeles Clippers. They have opted to rest Kawhi Leonard and Paul George continuously even when they can be active. They have drawn the ire of analysts like Stephen A. Smith because of this load management.

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The results for the Clippers have also fallen short because one or both of these players are unavailable during many crucial phases.

Where do these rules apply?

The policy on national TV games remains the most stringent. Unless there is a major injury, a star player can’t miss the nationally televised game, even if it is a back-to-back. The scope of the policy has some flexibility. Players like LeBron James, who are 35 or older, can still manage their load as they did in the prior seasons.

This move is a gambit by Adam Silver to improve the viewership. And since the NBA is a star-oriented league, a prime-time athlete is crucial to bring prime-time ratings. 

As per the current information, the rules apply largely to the Regular Season and the newly introduced in-season tournament. Preseason doesn’t come into the ambit because it is anyway an exhibition-type of scenario.

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