Load management has become a hot topic in the NBA. While we have our own opinions about it here at Vendetta, there’s been discussions about what it actually is. The NBA has tried to clarify the policy on load management. Quote via Zach Lowe of ESPN:
The league outlined new guidelines for injury reporting in a Nov. 11 memo to teams, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN.
The short version: Load management is now rest. Period. If you see that term, it will mean a healthy player is taking the night off. If skipping that particular game violates the league’s resting policy, that player’s team will be penalized.
Now when we see that load management on a team’s injury report, we now know that it is because of rest. Sure, some people might have thought of this already, but sometimes people are recovering from a lingering injury or just resting, and we aren’t sure what it is.
Cases like this are like Kawhi Leonard’s injury. He usually doesn’t play back-to-back games for the Clippers. While we’re not exactly sure if it is because of his lingering leg injury or it is because of rest. It might be both too. Kawhi Leonard seems healthy to play in most games, but playing could aggravate his injury where he decides it would hurt too much to play a back-to-back game. I honestly could not tell you, and it could be that way for the rest of his career, who knows.
However, the NBA, its teams, and its fans are now all on the same page on what load management is. Whenever you see load management, it means that a HEALTHY player is resting for the night. David Fizdale might be mad about it but oh well. We’ll see how it affects the injury reports for teams from now on, and that includes the Los Angeles Clippers.
