In a recent segment on “Inside the NBA,” Charles Barkley spoke out against the rising resistance from players over the new 65-game minimum eligibility for post-season awards. Barkley showed no sympathy for the players and pointed out how they signed up for this after agreeing to the new CBA.
“These players got nobody to blame but themselves,” said Barkley. “The Players Association signed off on the deal, I thought it should have been 70 games. These guys have put themselves in a situation where they didn’t respect the game and started resting and ‘load managing’ and the NBA had to do something. The fans get to see these guys one day a year and they pay all this money for tickets while these guys are making $40-50 million dollars. They need to play. It’s a fair rule. I thought it should’ve been 70 [games].”
What started as an effort to preserve health during the regular season boiled out of control in the NBA, and it got to a point where teams would sit their entire starting lineups with no warning or indication of their plans. It was a blatant act of disrespect. to the fans, and to players like Barkley who took pride in playing as many games as he could. The NBA had no choice but to act and that’s exactly what they did with the new award eligibility.
Why Did The NBA Set A 65-Game Minimum For Post-Season Awards?
The “load management” practice became popular from Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers but every team in the league is guilty of it at some level. In fact, many of the league’s top stars have decided to adapt the practice into their regular routine. From veterans like LeBron James and Stephen Curry to younger stars like Joel Embiid and Luak Doncic, load management was a common and frequent excuse to skip regular season games. But as Joe Dumars put it in a recent statement, it’s up to the players to prepare their bodies for the grind of an 82-game season.
This season, the action against load management has gone to the next level. Besides the rule changes, the league fined the Nets after head coach Jacque Vaughn rested a bunch of his top players for seemingly no reason. They also sent a memo to all 30 teams, arguing against the effectiveness of load management in preventing injuries. Needless to say, the league wants their players in the games and it’s one battle that not even the stars will be able to win.
Tyrese Haliburton Says The League’s New Rule Is “Stupid”
From the player’s perspective, winning awards just got a lot harder now since it requires health and attendance for roughly 80% of the season. Not only does it impact their legacy, but it can also impact their earnings as well, especially when it comes to All-NBA team selections that are often tied to big bonuses. In a recent interview with the media, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton became the latest to speak out on the change: “I think it’s a stupid rule, like plenty of other guys in the league, but this is what the owners want, so as players we gotta do our job and play in 65 games if we’re able to,” said Haliburton, via The Athletic.
Haliburton is already nearly disqualified from being eligible for post-season accolades as are a lot of other stars this season who are still getting used to the rule. Like it or not, though, the players don’t have a choice but to fall in line and it should;t be too much to ask for them to be available at least 80% of the time.
“Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support”
