The tightened schedule the NBA adopted to squeeze 72 games into five months is being criticized amid an increase in injuries, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN. Holmes talked to several general managers and training staff officials who believe players are more at risk than ever.
The torn ACL suffered this week by Nuggets guard Jamal Murray is the latest example of a high-profile injury that could alter the course of a team’s season.
“Hands down, it’s the worst schedule I’ve seen in 25 years in the league,” a veteran assistant coach said. “It’s utterly insane.”
Another called it “brutal,” while a head athletic trainer said the situation is worse than what teams experienced during the restart in Orlando last summer.
“Going into the bubble, we had all these different anxieties about the games, but without travel,” the trainer said. “This is literally exponentially more difficult. It’s such a cumulative effect.”
Data from the Elias Sports Bureau indicates that 2021 All-Stars have missed 15% of games this season, which would be the second-highest rate in league history. Several executives told Holmes that prior to the season, general managers voiced concerns over the schedule to the NBA office, including to commissioner Adam Silver, but the league was determined to complete the season in time to give players the chance to compete in the Summer Olympics, which will begin on July 23.
An NBA spokesperson contends that through 50 games, the number of injuries is actually down from last season and is within the normal range for the past five years. The league took steps this year to cut down on travel, such as having teams play a two-game series at some stops and reducing the number of one-game road trips.
Complicating the schedule was the high number of games that were postponed during the first half of the season because of COVID-19 outbreaks. Most of those games are being made up in the second half, forcing some teams to play far more often than normal.
The Grizzlies, for example, play three games in four nights 22 times over the second half, although some of those overlap. Memphis also has eight instances of five games in seven days, which is the most in the league, followed by the Spurs with seven and the Pistons, Rockets and Mavericks with five each. The Heat went 51 games without more than one day of rest between games, which is the longest stretch since the lockout season in 2011/12.
The NBA is coming off a shortened offseason as some playoff teams played into October last year, then started the new season in December. Silver has expressed optimism that next season will start on time, so players will again have limited time to recover this summer. The NBA Finals could go last late as July 22, and Summer League in Las Vegas is expected to be held in August.
“This whole two-year period will have a marked long-term effect on players many years down the line,” a general manager said. “It’s like if your power goes out. You have to burn candles if you want light. If you burn them, you won’t have them the next time your power goes out. We are burning through the players right now at an alarming rate. But again, what’s the alternative? Twenty-five-man rosters? Fewer games? It’s not just a ‘league thing.’ It all required collaboration with the NBPA. It’s a shared responsibility, driven almost exclusively by the seduction of (money).”
I like the final point about it being a shared responsibility. The league and the NBPA tried to balance player health with money. Ultimately this is what they agreed on.
yet that candle analogy was a little sloppy
The players wanted to wait til MLK day. The league (and Turner, ESPN) demanded their winter holiday games and made crazy economic threats/predictions. Just like the All Star Game.
This has been an injury-plagued season since December.
Lebron was fair in stating him not liking the schedule, but the league AND players went forward. Yeah, they sped up the schedule but players should have locked in something tighter to protect their bodies. Instead, they protected their pockets for this season. Something had to give, and they should have been more careful. Some guys like Aldridge and Drummond were making some serious coin to sit and get bought out and then signed with contenders. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. C’mon! I think they should come to a better compromise and remove some games next season to allow for a more balanced schedule and recovery.
LeBron getting hurt will be the new norm.
And they’re stuck paying him $86M over the next two years.
Lebron is no longer a union leader so had no say officially.
Betting on LJ’s decline has rarely paid off. But get real, that is not what the article is about. Not everything is about LJ… this is more about Chris Paul. And covid…
I suspect covid, which can lodge in the brain, has some longterm affects than medical researchers have not had time to understand.
Houston has had only two players on their roster at any point this season who has played more than 35 games. All of the roster turnover has attributed to that as well.
Houston turnover is also about their flameout. Players want to be elsewhere despite warmish winter temperatures, and that is not likely to change with Wood and KPorter as leaders.
That will change if Houston gets one of the top picks in the draft and can get a franchise player to replace Harden. Wall is also a leader.
If it’s true that the rate of injuries is no more than in the past, then OK, but it might be off point. It might be more informative to see a breakdown of the type, severity and timing of injuries. When the schedule was set, I believed that there would be a greater risk of injury, but that it likely wouldn’t fully take hold until later in the season (after 50 games or so), and early on, there may be fewer injuries. The real question is whether the rate of serious injuries is increasing in-season more than it usually does during a season. If so, then it’s likely to get worse.
There are major injuries to star players every year. This is just an example of recency bias.
“Data from the Elias Sports Bureau indicates that 2021 All-Stars have missed 15% of games this season, which would be the second-highest rate in league history.”
That said it doesn’t state whether they adjusted for a shortened season. Missing 1 out of 72 games accounts for a higher percentage than 1 out of 82. Have to keep that in mind when comparing.
You could argue the length isn’t relevant — a season is a season — but it should at least be noted.
Does that also include games missed because of rest or so-called “load management” or is it just games missed due to injuries? That is a big difference.
I think some of that could be attributed to mental fatigue related to a more condensed schedule, as well as a certain global pandemic. Load management in general is not unique to this season.
I don’t doubt the schedule is brutal this year. But so is the AAU schedule almost every player goes thru prior to the League, which probably plays a decent part is more guys blowing out ACL’s earlier in their careers than ever.
Yet even still – none of these injuries are life altering like the NFL, just career threatening. These dudes at worst make millions of dollars and at best make hundreds of millions over a career (and then usually land 6 figure jobs in coaching, broadcasting, etc). It’s hard for me to feel *that* much sympathy here.
yeah and okay? maybe raise this. concern earlier. what’s the solution here?
They didn’t have to agree to playing this season. But they wanted their money didn’t they
Lol yeah believe it or not people need money to live and they wanted to live didn’t they
Oh, yeah, I’m sure these multimillionaires were going to be homeless if they held out for fewer games. Give me a break.
The players and their reps agreed to it. Don’t like it, don’t agree to it next time.