Deep dive: Load management
The Game of my Life
Load management is a major issue in the NBA. Fans, the media, retired players and current ones are all balking at the idea of resting the league’s best players midway through the season. Fans pay hardearned money and may only get one chance to see their favorite players live in action. NBA players are paid enormous sums of money to shoot a ball through a hoop. Fans feel cheated, media are disappointed. What’s tough about it is that there is no measure to justify load management. There’s no baseline from which to say a player needs to sit out a particular game. But it’s not a good look, whether medically justified or not.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich rested Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker after the team had registered a significant winning streak. But the term started being used in the league roughly six years ago, when the Philadelphia 76ers started selectively benching Joel Embiid. The following season, the Toronto Raptors exploited the concept to stretch the efficacy of eventual Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, and won a championship. Soon, some franchises adopted the practice, while others quietly stuck to a policy of having no days off for players. This presented a problem for the NBA, since it needed the best players to play as much as possible, but didn’t want to make them look like slaves to the league.
The growth of organized sports in the US accelerated upon the formation of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in 1888. In its early stages, it coordinated with international competitions like the Olympic Games and prepared American athletes for them with the mission “Sports For All, Forever.” As early as 1978, it was clear that the AAU could not manage this goal efficiently. And over the last few decades, the original plan to develop players has since become extremely competitive and commercialized instead, particularly in basketball. Winning has become the overarching goal, not making players better. Teams rarely practice, since they play up to three or four games a day. Therefore, fundamentals are not reinforced. The focus has been on individual talent. Children as young as second grade become part of teams that compete in tournaments, often traveling around the country. The skilled players get more plays, more touches, more opportunities, at the expense of their studies, athletic growth, and team play. In an extreme example, NBA legend Lamar Odom went to five different high schools in four years while playing AAU basketball.
What does this have to do with load management? AAU veterans who become professional basketball players reveal that they felt that they were at their physical peak at 17 or 18 years old. They believe that they jumped higher and were basically stronger overall. Medically, this is too early. Athletes are supposed to reach the peak of their physical prowess in their mid- to late 20’s. The early physical maturation is artificial, created by playing too much, too early. Therefore, Americans who’ve gone through the system are more likely to have shorter careers, with more chances of getting injured. Their bodies recover less and less with the grind of the NBA. They’re worn out. The body simply breaks down from overuse. This creates the need to give them rest and let them recover even during the season. With 82 games to play, they pick which handful they can afford to risk losing.
In Europe, it’s very different. Most of the best players are only exposed to tough regular competition by age 16, which is also when you are legally allowed to turn pro in Europe. Earlier, they are trained in the fundamentals, joining competitions only occasionally. Also, at 16, they become teenaged rookies on a team of grown men. They realize that they have to earn their minutes as they develop, and they must be patient before a leadership role – and major minutes – can be given to them. Their development is guided, nurtured, gradual. Even after their NBA careers, they still contribute substantially to club teams or their national teams back home.
If the American system does not change, we will see more and more cases of load management. Buying tickets to games will become more a case of playing the odds than a sure thing. The second game of a back-to-back, or third game of a road trip would sell less. This would ultimately hurt the NBA. Some of us wish the concept of load management had never been introduced in the first place.