The NBA is reportedly working to minimize the effect load management has on fans. Via the New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Load management, they call it, is a player’s way of offsetting the grind of a grueling NBA season by taking a game off here or a game off there.
It’s good for the player but bad for the fans, which is why the NBA is doing its part this season to cut back on players missing games, particularly road games where fans of the home team get few chances to see visiting players.
The NBA sent a memo to teams this week updating its policy on resting players.
Teams shouldn’t rest multiple healthy players during the same game and teams should not rest healthy players for road games. And even more significant, teams can be fined $100,000 for resting healthy players for nationally televised games.
Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy, whose team plays 19 nationally televised games in the first half of the season, welcomes the league’s plan to appease its consumers.
“I think the thing we can never forget when you are in pro sports is that the people who make our league — I don’t care if it’s the NBA, the NFL, Major League Baseball — is the fans,” Van Gundy said. “Without the fans, we have no league. We have nobody buying TV rights. We have nothing without the fans. We need to respect those fans at all time.”
It makes sense that the league wouldn’t want star players to sit out of national TV games when they don’t have to. Televised games are usually a good matchup, which means that in addition to the TV audience, the game would be a hot ticket to attend.
Whatever the official rules turn out to be on this for 2020-21, there will likely be additional adjustments to load management-related rules in coming seasons.
