In a now iconic clip, 76ers legend Allen Iverson had to answer a wave of questions from reporters after he missed a team practice. Meanwhile, today, players are unapologetically skipping out on entire games for no other reason than to rest. Speaking on his podcast, former league guard Gilbert Arenas highlighted these differences as he flamed the modern NBA for normalizing load management.
“Y’all should be apologizing because he missed practice…Played in the game…They are missing games and none of y’all are saying sh*t. When the game comes, he was there 100%, he was playing 1,000 miles an hour, he’s giving you his all. Y’all crucified this man for that and now y’all are putting rules in to miss games.”
"Y'all should be apologizing because he missed practice…Played in the GAME…They are missing GAMES and none of y'all are saying sh*t."
Gilbert Arenas discussed how the media killed Allen Iverson, but ignores players missing games. pic.twitter.com/MY9UVMLyOu
— Gil’s Arena (@GilsArenaShow) October 17, 2023
Load management has become an increasingly volatile subject over the past few years. On the one hand, lightening the load for players can pay off for everyone since it typically leads to fewer injuries and better playoff series. On the other hand, load management takes away the live game experience for fans, who pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to attend games and watch these players compete. Clearly, Arenas has no problem letting us know which side he’s on.
Allen Iverson’s Practice Rant Is Legendary
Back in the day, before load management was ever really a thing, players were held accountable if they didn’t show up for team activities. In the case of Iverson, he was getting absolutely torched by the media and fans at the time for claims that he was absent from team practices. In the end, he was forced to respond to the critics with a long and passionate rant: “We sitting in here — I’m supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking about practice,” he said. Iverson later admitted that it was a particularly tough period for him, which included the death of his best friend.
Regardless of the details, Iverson’s iconic rant swept the entire basketball world at the time and he couldn’t believe how people were coming at him for poor practice habits. And yet, despite all that, Iverson always made sure to not only show up for games but to give his all every time a win was on the table. The same cannot be said of most NBA athletes today, who are happy to take a night off whenever they feel like it.
NBA’s War On Load Management
Interestingly, the NBA is also taking a stance on the load management issue. After initially enabling the practice, the league has since retracted support for the tradition, claiming that there’s no evidence it achieves the intended results. In the case of Kawhi Leonard, who has suffered numerous injuries in spite of his history with load management, the practice doesn’t really seem to be working at all.
Practically, the league has implemented a number of rule changes to help encourage participation, including potential fines for teams who rest more than one star at a time. And while we don’t yet know how effective these rules will be, many fans and players are happy that something is finally being done.
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