Speaking with his former teammate Paul Pierce on ‘KG Certified,’ Kevin Garnett didn’t hold back on his critique of 76ers star Joel Embiid. After Embiid announced his intention to avoid all back-to-back situations going forward, Garnett called him out for living up to his standard.
“82 games, man, this is what the fu***** job calls for,” said Garnett. “You’re not practicing, you’re not playing in the summer. I understand if you playing in the summer, you on the playground, then the Olympics and training camp… that’s when you get rest. I don’t want to hear this sh*t. I don’t want to hear none of this sh*t. Motherf*****s can sit out in back-to-backs? We done with the comparisons of the eras sh*t. “
Earlier this week, Embiid went viral for saying that he plans on avoiding back-to-backs for the rest of his career. He’s the first player ever to speak openly about the decision and it’s received widespread backlash from fans, players, and experts alike.
In Kevin Garnett’s era, players were expected to play in as many games as possible. They would rarely take time off unless they physically couldn’t play and it often involved enduring a lot of pain. They did it without complaint because everyone was so competitive at the time that it was completely normal.
Needless to say, things have changed a lot over the years. The modern NBA athlete is more concerned with his own longevity than maintaining continuity on his team. Today, star players are more likely to completely skip back-to-backs when healthy as opposed to putting their bodies on the line for an extra win.
This trend is called load management and it’s become a very controversial topic in the NBA community. From the players’ perspective, skipping back-to-backs is just a way to manage the workload and ensure that their body is given enough time to properly rest and heal between games.
Ultimately, it’s not the player who suffers from load management. Instead, it’s the team, the fans, and the media networks that take a hit when the best players decide to sit out on regular-season games.
Joel Embiid didn’t want to become the new face of load management, but he really had no choice after drowning in injuries for years. Last season, despite historic numbers on the court (33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game) another injury cut his time short and it cost him the MVP.
After 8 years in the NBA and nothing to show for all his dominance, Embiid and the 76ers are desperate for success and they will use whatever methods they can to increase their odds of keeping their superstar healthy over the duration of a season.
It has yet to happen in Embiid’s entire NBA career but there is hope that they can break the cycle this season. With a revamped roster that includes Paul George and an extensive plan to keep Joel Embiid fresh, the 76ers are serious about their title pursuit and load management is just part of their ongoing effort to mitigate accidents on the court.
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