League still seeks solutions for rest issue

NEW YORK >> The NBA is still searching for ways to stop teams from resting healthy players.

Shortening the 82-game won’t be the answer.

Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday that hasn’t been discussed, though he hopes other steps can help with what he said was the most important issue facing the league.

“I’d say because there is no support right now, hard support, for a belief that simply reducing the number of games will reduce the number of injuries,” Silver said. “As best we understand the issue right now, it’s a function of spacing games. It’s not the totality of games.”

The league’s Board of season Governors reached a conclusion on another matter, ruling that Charlotte would be eligible to host the 2019 All-Star Game after a compromise deal to replace a North Carolina law that limited anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people.

Charlotte will resubmit its application to host the weekend it was scheduled to have in February before the league moved it due to its objection to the law.

“I’m proud of the league’s stance on opposing HB2 and announcing that we were not going to play the All-Star Game under those circumstances. And I’m also proud that we’re going back. I think we can be a force for change,” Silver said.

But the rest issue continues to vex Silver and the league, realizing players need breaks but the fans and TV partners paying billions want to see the stars as much as possible.

“So there’s no more important issue for the league right now,” Silver said. “I mean, it goes to the heart of what we do and to the core of competition, and so it is something that we’re going to be spending a lot more time on.”

For now, there are guidelines but no new rules. The recommendations were that teams avoid resting multiple healthy players for national TV games, and when necessary to rest players, do so during home games.

Silver sent a memo to owners last month, urging them to be more mindful of the rest decisions, after Golden State and Cleveland rested multiple All-Stars during back-toback Saturday on ABC.

But he doesn’t seem ready to punish teams, at least yet, saying he was “trying to find the right line between cajoling and new requirements.” prime-time games

Durant practices, set to play Saturday in return

OAKLAND >> Kevin Durant returned to practice Friday and experienced no issues with his left knee, so he is set to play against New Orleans in his return from injury.

Durant has been sidelined since he was hurt Feb. 28 at Washington but Golden State hoped all along to have KD back before the regular season ended — and now the Warriors are riding a 13-game winning streak.