It's a talking point the NBA would love to avoid, but it came up multiple times during the All-Star weekend: load management, that medical-sounding term for players taking scheduled days off and — in some cases — missing games in the pursuit of optimal health and performance.
The practice started to become part of our lexicon about a decade ago when the Spurs famously employed the tactic with an aging core. Other teams have latched onto it since then, to the point that it's a widespread strategy. When Denver played the Timberwolves a few weeks ago at Target Center, the Nuggets didn't even bother to send their best players — including two-time MVP Nikola Jokic — to Minneapolis.
But a defendable medical strategy can still have bad optics. And rising Wolves star Anthony Edwards gave voice to the reason in the company of his star peers over the weekend.
"Just play, man. If you 80%, you gotta play," he said. "I don't like all the sitting, missing games stuff. These people might have enough money to come to one game. And that might be the game they come to and you sitting out."
Edwards has played all 60 games for the Wolves this season, battling through ailments along the way. That makes him an anomaly in the modern NBA, though, where it's common for players to make sure they are 100% healthy (or very close) if they are going to suit up — something Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast.
If an NBA player is legitimately injured, he of course shouldn't play. But the gray area between hurt and injured, and particularly the notion of simply resting players to preserve health, is a much more nuanced conversation.
As Edwards noted, with fans thanking him on social media for his attitude and declaration, it's disappointing when a star player misses the game you are at. Teams, however, are not typically concerned about one game (unless it's the postseason). They are managing the long-term health of franchise players who might be on nine-figure contracts.
"I understand it from a fan standpoint that if you are buying tickets to a particular game and that player isn't playing, I don't have a good answer for that other than this is a deep league with incredible competition," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters during All-Star weekend in addressing load management. "But the mindset of our teams and players these days, as your question suggests, is that they should be optimizing performance for the playoffs."
Should the NBA cut down on its 82-game schedule or extend its season to avoid back-to-back games and other scenarios where teams would be tempted to rest players? That sounds easy, but it would also potentially hinder revenue (fewer games, less TV money) and/or cut down on the offseason that players already use to recuperate (extended season).
As Silver says, there's not really an easy answer now that load management is a widespread practice.
But that said: This is just one more reason Wolves fans should be glad Edwards is on their side.
