Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is deeply concerned by the increase in soft tissue injuries in the NBA. With Giannis Antetokounmpo and Victor Wembanyama being the latest superstars to go down with injuries, Kerr spoke in his press conference before Tuesday’s game against the Orlando Magic about why this is happening with greater regularity.
“The pace difference is dramatic,” Kerr said, via Anthony Slater. “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 game’s 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.”
According to Basketball Reference, the average Pace in the NBA this season is 100.5. The last time the figure was higher was in 1988-89. when it was 100.6. In fact, coming into this season, the 100-mark had only been breached twice in this century.
The Pace was consistently higher when you go back in time to the 1980s, but teams weren’t shooting a lot of threes back then. That has led to players having to run faster and further than ever before.
— Sam Dekker (@dekker) June 23, 2025
You can see how the graph begins to go up with the start of the three-point revolution in the NBA. Analyst Max Klotz also provided a bit of a deeper look into this. NBA teams ran an average of 1.54 miles further per game in 2024-25 (18.34) than they did in 2013-14 (16.88). That is 120 miles over the course of the season.
As Kerr stated, the data is there for all to see. The 60-year-old also shared what the Warriors’ medical staff thinks is causing these injuries.
“They believe that the wear and tear, the speed, the pace, the mileage, it’s all factoring into these injuries,” Kerr said.
Antetokounmpo is out for a week or two with a groin strain, while Wembanyama will be re-evaluated in 2-3 weeks after suffering a left calf strain. Kerr, who has called for shortening of the season on multiple occasions in the past, stated he has brought up the idea of reducing the number of games in meetings with the league.
“I bring it up,” Kerr stated. “I bring it up a lot. And I just think if we’re actually focused on the product, it would be great. We literally have not had a single practice on this road trip. Not one. We’ve gone a week, or longer, eight days, not one practice, ’cause it’s just game, game, game. So not only is there no recovery time, there’s no practice time.”
Kerr stated that back during his playing career, they would have four games in five nights, but a four-day break would follow that. It meant the players not only got a day off but also got to practice and scrimmage.
Kerr admitted there is no easy answer here, but thinks reducing the number to 72 to 75 games could make a big difference. He doesn’t believe it will happen, though.
As for this game against the Magic, the Warriors lost 121-113 to drop to 9-7 on the season. They take on the Miami Heat next at the Kaseya Center on Wednesday at 7:30 PM ET.
