Load Management

Tonight the Washington Wizards hosted the Los Angeles Clippers for the one and only time this season. I didn't go. I had a holiday party to go to that was a more important way for me to spend my Sunday afternoon so I sold my tickets. I made it home in time for the second half to see the Wizards fight valiantly again but lose again.

I'm thinking (and I'm guessing here) there might be a good chance the person who bought my tickets did so to see Kawhi Leonard play. If that's the case, they got lucky because a few weeks ago it became apparent the Kawhi wasn't going to play the first night of back-to-backs this season for medical reasons and the Clips are playing in Indiana tomorrow night. Kawhi's playing regiment (or maybe sitting regiment) is justified by the term "load management" which essentially means he's technically healthy but that if he played, he might not stay that way. This whole issue has a bunch of people a little upset.

Now, I can imagine if you bought tickets to an NBA game with the intent of seeing a specific player suit up that you would be disappointed to see that player sit out. I get it. I also get there are no guarantees in life when it comes to who's going to play in any single game. This is not like going to see a concert where the artist can't be swapped out. On any given night any player can miss time. Injuries. Sickness. Personal issues. Suspensions. Whatever. Go see the teams, not the players. It will save you some angst.

It may be difficult to swallow when you pay a bunch of money to watch one player on the court but look, life is full of risks. An NBA player missing time for whatever reason on any given night is one of those.

People getting upset about this issue is nothing new. This has been bothering people for years. Then-NBA Commissioner David Stern got upset seven years ago when the San Antonio Spurs elected to sit Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Danny Green on the last game of a six game road trip. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich just felt those guys needed a blow, despite there being no injury to report. The Spurs lost that game. Just. But it was also on national television and despite there being no restriction on resting healthy players, Pop got fined $250,000 by Stern.

Since then, there have been other NBA luminaries who have expressed their opinion on this issue including Hall of Famer Kevin McHale and LeBron James. McHale allowed that you might need a day off if you were a coal miner (like his father was) but missing a game of a back-to-back seemed inexcusable to him. I mean, after all, it's just basketball. What's the threat to your health here? 

LeBron James has weighed in this year based on Kawhi sitting out early season games, stating quite heroically "If I'm hurt, I don't play. If not, I'm playing."

There's some irony here. I don't know if any of you have watched Kevin McHale walk (or limp) these days. It looks painful and I'm sure it has something to do with what playing basketball did to his body. And LeBron? He was sitting multiple games a year a few seasons ago. His take on the issue was much different back then. After a game in 2017 when he, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love sat out a game against the Los Angeles Clippers while perfectly healthy, he said "At the end of the day it sucks at times where certain guys have to rest but certain guys need rest." Including LeBron, who is now not a fan somehow.

2017 LeBron: Sitting out games when healthy. 

I don't agree with David Stern, Kevin McHale or the 2019 version of LeBron James. If Kawhi Leonard needs to sit out a game every now and then because he and his medical staff have determined playing all 82 games in a season will do irreversible damage to his body, then he should sit and neither Stern, McHale or LeBron should have anything to say about it. I admit playing in the NBA is not likely to cause brain damage leading to suicide like it has done so many time to former NFL players but it can take a toll on the body. I'll point back to Kevin McHale's limp. Or former Wizards head coach Randy Wittman's gait. Just looking at Randy hobble on to the court during timeouts made me feel pain. And I'm positive it's from playing in the NBA. If resting every few games solved that for Randy or McHale, I gotta believe they'd welcome it.

So what about us fans? Don't we have a right to have players that are signed to contracts for our teams give everything to win for us? I mean aren't they supposed to leave it all on the court for the price of victory now despite all future consequences?

Two things here: (1) no they don't and (2) doing this doesn't mean you can't win a championship.

On the first point, I think sometimes we think that because the athletes we watch on TV or live in the arena make millions and millions of dollars, that we have some right to expect them to do whatever it takes to win at all costs. We don't. I am sure current Wizard Isaiah Thomas, who did major damage to his hip in the 2017 playoffs and cost himself tens of millions of dollars in the process, could adequately tell you or me all about that kind of expectation. Getting paid millions of dollars now does not entitle us fans to expect these guys to do things to their bodies that is going to make them live in pain for the rest of their lives. It just doesn't. It's their bodies, not ours.

On the second point, how do I know that? Because Kawhi did the exact same thing last year and he (and the Toronto Raptors) won the NBA Championship. After all, there are no back-to-backs in the playoffs. Not sure why there was much less fuss about this last year.

Today, the rules for NBA teams resting healthy players are different than they were in 2012 when David Stern lightened Gregg Popovich's wallet by $250K. It's OK to sit healthy players these days, you just can't do it during a nationally televised game. I'm not sure how being on national television solves long term injuries to a player by them playing too much, but that's the rule. In Kawhi's case, he has special dispensation so the Clippers avoid fines in these situations but what about the rest of the league? If my knee hurts from working out the previous day, I generally don't work out the next day. Why can't NBA players have the same latitude?

There's one more reason I've heard floated about healthy-ish players missing games, that it messes up people gambling on the games. To anyone offering up that reason, you are clearly more committed to gambling than you probably should be. Despite Ted Leonsis saying that sports gambling is essentially good for everyone, it's not. The house always win. Gamble and expect to lose, that's all I have to say on that one.

If the person who bought my tickets to the game last night did it to watch Kawhi Leonard play, I'm happy it worked out for him or her. I just wish Kawhi would have sat out for load management reasons to give the Wiz a better shot at the W. But ultimately, it's not my call. He, and every other player, needs to do what's best for their long term health. As much as it might disappoint us fans.