How should the NBA deal with healthy players resting games?

[gatorb807]

Spread out the back to back games around the network schedules.

If a healthy player rests a prime time network game, they dont get paid that game check.

 

[scotthallwithapick]

Anything talking about a fine is dumb. One you can have a doctor say you're hurt. 2) you can get a DNP-CD like most 11-15 men tho (those who get the minutes when stars rest) 3) If it got to that point owners would just pay since its usually higher management's choice whether coach or GM. 4) What about shutting down for the season? 5) They can lie and say DNP-Personal Reasons

You can adjust the schedule and give more rest but as long as there is 82 games and the post season is determined by 16 (or 15) wins players will rest in the regular season.

 

[getback]

Sucks for the fans if they don't get to see X player on X day but teams are trying to win in June.

Resting players in meaningless regular season games is just how it's gonna be from here on out and people are just gonna have to learn to live w/ it.

 

[jape]

shorter seasons

 

[tramericanjr]

why dont we cut the season to 70 games,,,,, why dont they cut the pay of nba players..... make it like the mid 90s where nobody was making 30 a year.......nba got a problem

 

[jumpman cbt2]

why dont we cut the season to 70 games,,,,, why dont they cut the pay of nba players..... make it like the mid 90s where nobody was making 30 a year.......nba got a problem

Very.well said. TOP Players in the 80s got less than 3 mio. Usd per season yet they never skipped games to rest without any injury or sickness.
Then in the 90s a,few top players started to receive 10 mio usd per season. Now in 2017 even non all Stars can get 10 mio usd per season while the Superstars often get 20+ mio. Usd.
Yet they have the nerve to rest?
Cut their hilarious salaries.
Without the fans who purchase the tickets, Merchandises, jerseys, gears and Sneakers those Players wouldnt be so arrogant now.

 

[Peep Game]

I'm on the fence with this. We can say that players back in the 80s/90s didn't do it, but the idea simply wasn't in their heads to do it. It's weird though, guys like Malone, Stockton, and Ewing were playing nearly 82 games a year for 10+ years while wearing sandpaper for shoes, yet guys now are missing huge chunks of seasons in under 5 years. Very puzzling when you think of all the technology we have today to prevent injuries.

 

[cedric ceballos]

I like the idea of having them sign autographs or something of that nature during the game.

They need to get rid of that tier pricing crap where pricing depends on the opponent that teams box offices do as well. If you're paying the same price at the box office for all 29 opponents (can't control the resell market) you have less grounds to complain if a player sits.

But if you charge $20 for a ticket when the timberwolves or bucks come to town, yet charge $100 for that exact same ticket when the Cavs or warriors come to town or even the case like a crappy laker team strictly due to kobe and the star talent which is the reason the price is so high, fans have a right to be pissed when the teams box office is charging so high because a superstar player is making their one appearance of the season and they don't play when healthy.

It would never happen, but I would love to see them have to rest a playoff game for each regular season game they rest.

 

[DCAllAfrican]

I'm on the fence with this. We can say that players back in the 80s/90s didn't do it, but the idea simply wasn't in their heads to do it. It's weird though, guys like Malone, Stockton, and Ewing were playing nearly 82 games a year for 10+ years while wearing sandpaper for shoes, yet guys now are missing huge chunks of seasons in under 5 years. Very puzzling when you think of all the technology we have today to prevent injuries.

Nothing anyone can really do.

Does it suck for specific games? Yeah, sure. Does it benefit the league in the long run? Absolutely.

You got guys like Kobe, Dirk, Duncan, KG, Pierce, etc all playing 20+ years, and in some cases, starting fresh out of high school, so they have WAY more wear and tear on their bodies than guys from the 70's-80's, and those guys all burned out early.

You're extending these guys' careers by 1-2-3 maybe even more seasons by letting them miss 5-8 games a year that would push the limits of their bodies.

It may suck for ABC, but would they rather have Bron vs Curry for one game, or have them healthy thru 2 months of playoffs? Kind of an easy call, big picture ain't it?


Trying to generate hype for a regular season game is stupid to begin with, fans know when those type of games are on, no need to try and increase viewership a couple extra points just to max out some pennies.

Let the teams/players/coaches handle their business, they know far more than the suits do, or the fans, etc, and the long run will pay off when you see guys playin 17-18-19 years rather than 12-13 years and they break down at 33-34 like the old days.

Well said

The NBA SHOULDN'T do anything.

There isn't anything the NBA can really do.

Let people use their players the way that they want to use them because the team will ALWAYS be able to rationalize resting.

 

[RyGuy45]

Simmons wrote in a recent column that the issue right now is guys are going a lot harder night in and night out than they did in the 70s and 80s. He said go back and watch old tapes of those eras, in the regular season players would just coast on both ends of the floor, and players were twigs. Now with ESPN all over you, and social media and eyeballs everywhere players know they are going to get blasted for basically anything they do. So they go harder (which is great for the fans) and it eventually catches up to them by end of season.

I can see that.

There are many things the NBA can eventually do if they really are serious. Extending the calendar, making opponents regional to reduce traveling, shorten minutes in the game, cutting preseason, etc. They've got these teams jet setting all over the country for three weeks of the preseason and it does not help (although it helps the bottom line). You also can do what Pop has been doing that is lost in all the "sitting games" talk and that is keeping his minutes down each game for his star players. K Leonard is averaging 30.5 minutes per game in his 6-year career. That's taking off essentially a quarter and a half each game. That stuff adds up in the long run. Jordan's first six years in the L he averaged 39.0 MPG.

 

[sonoflangston]

What the **** is a healthy player resting for? 

 

[throwback1718]

Like Kobe said in his interview on ESPN, you can find ways to rest during a game, by taking on different tasks.


If the coaches knew that the team had to face an elite team Nationally televised, why wouldn't they rest them prior to that game?

And usually, the Nationally televised games are the ones that cost ticket holders more money, obviously because it would be against another marquee team.
So why not atleast play for 5-6 minutes per quarter?

 

[krazy88s]

Very.well said. TOP Players in the 80s got less than 3 mio. Usd per season yet they never skipped games to rest without any injury or sickness.
Then in the 90s a,few top players started to receive 10 mio usd per season. Now in 2017 even non all Stars can get 10 mio usd per season while the Superstars often get 20+ mio. Usd.
Yet they have the nerve to rest?
Cut their hilarious salaries.
Without the fans who purchase the tickets, Merchandises, jerseys, gears and Sneakers those Players wouldnt be so arrogant now.

There's no going back. Fans aint gonna stop doing anything. They'll still watch, attend etc.

 

[8pm at msg]

Too much stress on the body from a young age got these guys breaking down faster, plus gym work, plus increases in size and athleticism.

 

[don ramon]

maybe seek a new profession if it's too much?

 

[don ramon]

players may be playing more physically than before, but technology for assisting players recoup has advanced greatly as well

maybe coaches should cut down on the heavy physical demands that practices add to the stress the players feel?

maybe some of these players should cut down on off the court demands from advertisers and marketers that has them running from place to place?

 

[cashbanks]

just start the season earlier and space the games out more.

 

[pmatic]

players may be playing more physically than before, but technology for assisting players recoup has advanced greatly as well

maybe coaches should cut down on the heavy physical demands that practices add to the stress the players feel?

maybe some of these players should cut down on off the court demands from advertisers and marketers that has them running from place to place?

Dirty secret is teams don't practice very often during the season because their season is hectic. If you're a star (especially a vet), you're probably getting practice off anyways.

 

[cedric ceballos]

Like Kobe said in his interview on ESPN, you can find ways to rest during a game, by taking on different tasks.


If the coaches knew that the team had to face an elite team Nationally televised, why wouldn't they rest them prior to that game?

And usually, the Nationally televised games are the ones that cost ticket holders more money, obviously because it would be against another marquee team.
So why not atleast play for 5-6 minutes per quarter?

This is what made it an issue. They were either just straight naive or got greedy. When lebron rested against the Grizzlies in November, he got heat for it but it fizzled out.

When he sat the home abc Saturday night game against the bulls I'm sure abc got pissed but no one really complained. Especially since it was a home game for Cleveland.

Once Golden State did it against the Spurs, Tyronn Lue or whoever on Cleveland should've had enough common sense to realize that stars sitting on back to back prime time nationally televised games wouldn't sit well with abc and the fans. Especially when Cleveland had already rested lebron 4 times already this season.

Had they been more low key and selective with the games lebron, curry etc rested it's not the issue it is right now in terms of the attention it's getting. But resting star players on back to back Saturday night prime time games was the straw that broke the camels back in terms of the rest topic getting the publicity it's getting.

 

[DCAllAfrican]

What the **** is a healthy player resting for? 

1. Nobody is TRULY "healthy."

2. They are resting for games that matter. (Or for a bad team, to tank).

 

[sharpshooter718]

Instead of resting players, just reduce mins for that day...

Playing LeBron 18-20 mins won't hurt him and the fans still get a show....

People get paid millions of dollars to workout yet they want to rest...

 

[shogun]

People talked about how averaging a triple double wouldn't be done again but how about averaging 48.5 minutes a game like Wilt did? Dude didn't rest during any games.

 

[trueprada]

"It's only for, like, LeBron, Steph, Harden, Russell."

KD says the rest issue only applies to A-list players

https://t.co/PUgVoPmxEX

 

[DCAllAfrican]

Instead of resting players, just reduce mins for that day...

Playing LeBron 18-20 mins won't hurt him and the fans still get a show....

People get paid millions of dollars to workout yet they want to rest...

Why is it this impression that player sitting is their own call?

 

[atlsfinest]

Why is it this impression that player sitting is their own call?

That's the thing I don't get. These plays aren't making unilateral decisions. Lebron doesn't tell Coach Lue "I'm not feeling it, I'm not playing tonight." It's a decision made from the top management with input from the coaches and players. Why fine Lebron for a decision he didn't make?