The NBA has introduced a player participation policy this season in order to tackle the load management problem, and Charles Barkley has blasted the players for the league having to resort to such measures.
“I’m talking to the players, man,” Barkley said. “Forget the ownership, forget the fans, as a player, if you’re going to make $50-60 million a year to play basketball three or four days a week, play basketball, man.”
Barkley says he does not want the players who are seriously injured to play, but says they shouldn’t sit out if they’re facing some minor problems.
“Everybody hurts after the first two weeks of the season,” Barkley continued. “Your legs sore, your knees sore. If you’re injured, I don’t want you to play. But the notion that, No. 1, bless these guys. If you’re making 30, 40, 50 million dollars to play basketball four days a week. Y’all got the best shoes, you’ve got the best medical staff, you’ve got these guys sleeping in chambers, you’ve got ice baths. Man, if you can play, shut the hell up and play.”
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1716947356841836991
Barkley’s rant drew an incredible reaction from the fans, who loved every second of it. The 60-year-old is right when he talks about how the players now have the luxury of a great medical staff and incredible recovery methods, but his anger might be a bit misplaced.
Numerous players have come out and stated that the team wants them to sit, with Stephen Curry speaking about that misconception regarding load management. I’m sure there are some who make the decision themselves, but a lot of them just follow what the team doctors are telling them.
The NBA’s Claims On Load Management
While many criticize the concept of load management, there are perhaps equally as many who like it. The idea was that if it helps the players stay healthy, then there’s no harm in practicing it. However, the NBA claims load management does not prevent injuries.
“Before, it was a given conclusion that the data showed that you had to rest players a certain amount, and that justified them sitting out,” said Joe Dumars.
“We’ve gotten more data, and it just doesn’t show that resting, sitting guys out correlates with lack of injuries, or fatigue, or anything like that. What it does show is maybe guys aren’t as efficient on the second night of a back-to-back.”
It is interesting if the NBA’s research really showed that load management has no positive effect whatsoever. It’s a bit strange if you ask me, but we have to go by their word here. As a fan, I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing the best players in action more often than in seasons past, and you just hope it doesn’t lead to more injuries.
Charles Barkley Confronted Adam Silver On How The NBA Tackles Domestic Violence Issues
While the Hall of Famer was firmly on the side of the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver on the topic of load management, he did have one concern regarding them as well. Barkley confronted Silver on the domestic violence issues in the NBA, which was commendable on his part.
We have had the Miles Bridges and Kevin Porter Jr. situation over the last year or so, and Barkley wanted to know how the league planned to address it. Unfortunately, Silver did not really give a clear answer on the topic but did say that players are receiving counseling so that they never resort to violence in any situation.
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