Soft-tissue injuries are on the rise in the NBA, and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is the latest superstar to find himself on the sidelines. Antetokounmpo is set to miss two to four weeks with a right calf strain, and former NBA player Lou Williams stated on Run It Back on FanDuel TV that he has an idea why we are seeing so many of these injuries.
“The last couple of days I’ve watched a lot of basketball,” Williams began. “And these guys are playing four, five, six-minute stretches where you’re literally not blowing the whistle or it’s a quick whistle taking the ball out on the side, and they’re continuing to play. We’re shooting so many three-pointers, and we’re playing at a pace that’s so fast.
“We’re not slowing down, playing half-court when you get an opportunity to take a breather, let your body rest for a second, get into a set, and slow down,” Williams said. “Like this pace is crazy. I remember at a time, it was only one or two teams in the NBA trying to score in four to six seconds, really fast and early in the shot clock. Now it feels like every team is playing that way.
“Every guy has a green light to just shoot threes, get quick attempts,” Williams stated. “It looks like the game has went to a place where you’re trying to get as many possessions in the game as you can, opposed to just playing the best basketball game you can. And that’s where analytics is taking us.
“Analytics is taking us to a place where you see a guy that is not supposed to be shooting the basketball, he’s getting four to six reps at the three-point line, and we’re just playing an up-and-down pace faster and faster and faster,” Williams continued. “And now you’re starting to see that wear and tear on calves and Achilles and ankles opposed to knees when the game was at a place where guys were playing above the rim.
“Now we’re playing outside of the three-point line, and it’s become a track meet,” Williams added. “That’s what I see.”
Well, the pace has certainly gone up a bit this season. The league average currently is 100.1, up from 98.8 in 2024-25. If this remains the case the rest of the way, this will be just the third season in the 21st century where the average pace has been in triple digits.
Is analytics to blame for this, though, as Williams, who won Sixth Man of the Year thrice in 17 seasons, suggests? Well, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has also explained why there has been an increase in soft tissue injuries in the NBA.
“The pace difference is dramatic,” Kerr said. “This team tonight has really upped their pace compared to last year. I think across the league, everybody understands now that it’s just easier to score if you can beat the opponent down the floor, get out in transition.
“But when everybody’s doing that, the games are much higher paced, faster paced, and then everyone has to cover out to 25 feet because everybody can shoot threes,” Kerr continued. “So, we have all the data. Players are running faster and further than ever before. So we’re trying to do the best we can to protect them, but basically have a game every other night, and it’s not an easy thing to do.”
So, it’s not just about analytics, but the emphasis on the three-pointer has played a part. Kerr believes shortening the regular season would lead to a reduction in these injuries. He reckons teams playing 72 to 75 games instead of 82 would make a big difference, but believes the NBA will not go down that route.
