• The NBA is clamping down on star players missing regular-season games and back-to-back’s
• Teams will be penalized for resting players without injury on national TV and back-to-back games
• LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and more fall under exception rules due to their heavy career workload
The new NBA rules are forcing players to be more available, as the Board of Governors passed a provision about resting star players excessively, especially on national TV and back-to-back games. The league has made an exception for veteran players, something Bobby Marks explained while discussing why LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant will still be allowed to rest through major games.
“Here are the exceptions the NBA will pre-approve but you have to send them a written notification within a week of the game. There are designated back-to-back allowances for players who are 35 years old on opening night or have career workloads of 34,000 regular season minutes or 100,000 regular season and playoff games combined. Your list for this is Chris Paul, Mike Conley, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, DeMar DeRozan, and James Harden.”
Only these seven ‘star’ players will be given consideration ahead of resting games. While they definitely need the room to rest, many teams will feel upset at this ruling when they have injury-prone stars they still can’t rest.
This will include the Clippers with their duo of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, the Nets’ Ben Simmons, the Lakers’ Anthony Davis, and many others.
Are The New NBA Rules Fair?
The new NBA rules that force players to participate more is overdue. We are in an era of basketball where many of the top players don’t even play more than 70 games a season. The NBA earlier introduced game requirements for All-NBA consideration, which directly impacts the contracts players can earn. That, coupled with the new resting rules, means that we could see the biggest stars of the league on the court more often.
While minimizing the risk of injury by resting players is understandable, the modern NBA has taken that concept way too far. There needs to be a middle ground somewhere, as the league is putting the players at risk. Kawhi and George don’t miss all their games because they’re resting, they genuinely get hurt very often and need to be more careful with their bodies.
Players of yesteryear happily played 82 games a season while averaging 40.0 minutes per game, something that hasn’t happened since 2011. While the minutes average is unlikely to shoot up, it’ll be fun to see the top stars in the league at least play 65-70 games a year.
Will LeBron James Play Heavy Minutes This Season?
LeBron James is entering his 21st season in the NBA, looking to do something no one has ever done. After shattering most records in Year 20 of his career, there are many more accomplishments on the horizon for James if he keeps performing like he did last season.
The Lakers have strong roster depth and a genuine chance to compete, so the Lakers may not feel the need to play LeBron-heavy minutes like they had to last season. Averaging over 35.0 minutes is concerning for a player of his age and recent injury history, so if the Lakers can make do with fewer LeBron minutes, it’d be good for the entire team. Others get opportunities, while James can have energy left to dominate the fourth quarter.
James averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists last season on 35.5 minutes per game.
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