Load management has become one of the most despised words in the world of basketball, as we see more and more players shirk the responsibilities of playing an 82-game season to continue resting throughout the season to minimize injuries.
I spoke to Ray Allen on behalf of Fadeaway World during his visit to NBA India and asked the Hall of Famer his thoughts on the rise of load management in today’s game.
Ishaan Bhattacharya: “You played 80+ games six times in your career and played 79 games in your second last season. Now, we’re seeing the NBA force a 65-game limit for consideration for the MVP award or All-NBA teams. What are your thoughts on what you’re seeing with load management in basketball?”
Ray Allen: “I don’t particularly think it’s good for the game. When I played, we took pride in playing each game. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, you have injuries or something happens. To get to the end of the year and you looked up and you played 82. You never remember game 58 when you were tired and want to sit down and take a rest, but you didn’t. It’s easy to say I will take tonight off because I’m sore. We constantly felt like we had to play for each other, regardless of what was going on during the season. On off days, we made sure we lifted weights, we made sure we took care of our body, that was our load management. We took care of our bodies so we could play 82 games.”
Ray Allen on load management in the modern NBA.
"We constantly felt like we had to play for each other… On off days, we made sure we lifted weights, we made sure we took care of our body, that was our load management. We took care of our bodies so we could play 82 games. pic.twitter.com/n6wDIh5LUi
— Ishaan Bhattacharya (@IshaanBhatta) May 16, 2023
Load management has hurt the league throughout the regular season and has seen players miss games for imperceptible reasons to protect the wear and tear on their bodies. That is understandable in many cases for injury-prone players, but star players are not even making it to 65 games played every season, which has led to the NBA amending their rules for MVP and All-NBA teams.
Will Players Abandon Load Management In The Future?
With the new rules for award selection, many players will have to force themselves to meet the 65-game mark. Minor injuries can always take them off the court, but extending rest periods and avoiding back-to-backs will be discouraged. Given the financial incentive behind being named to an All-NBA team, many players in their prime will be pushing to meet the games requirement to ensure they can be eligible for selection.
The previous generation of players enjoyed lengthy careers with minimal load management, with Ray Allen serving as a prime example himself. Modern players are smarter about protecting their bodies, but they have to meet the fans that pay to watch them play in games in the middle by shooting for the new 65-game mark set by the league.
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