Tanking/Resting/Injury ‘Management’ is out of control

[GrandTheftRondo]

Completely out of control in this league.

Seriously, if you were a fan attending a game you’re taking a hell of a risk every night now if you wanted to see your favourite player.

Bad teams are resting healthy players on back to backs like they’re 36 year old Tim Duncan.

Tonight for example Alex Sarr is incapable of playing the first night of a back to back at the ripe old age of 20. Brandon Miller can’t play because of ‘injury management’ after the massive strain of playing 3 games in a week.

Players are missing back to backs after spraining their ankle weeks ago to ‘recover’

Contending teams and playoff teams are in no rush to ever bring anyone back if they don’t need to.

You’ll see them resting players with made up injuries only for them to recover the next day

Its a joke

[Infinite Llamas]

I don’t think people even realize how much power the team doctors have in this league.

[tsherkin]

Players are missing back to backs after spraining their ankle weeks ago to ‘recover’

So, your broader point has some teeth to it, but for this one, I have to wonder... have you ever sprained an ankle before? Like, no sass, serious question. Because there are a variety of ways in which inflammation management after an injury like that could be a problem for a long time after the initial injury. And then tolerance for anti-inflammatory medications without wanting to abolish kidney function could permit someone to play a game one night and then want to take the next night off and such.

[og15]

What is the resting situation you are referencing here?

[Statlanta]

It's this or we get more Keyonte George performances.

[GrandTheftRondo]

Players are missing back to backs after spraining their ankle weeks ago to ‘recover’

So, your broader point has some teeth to it, but for this one, I have to wonder... have you ever sprained an ankle before? Like, no sass, serious question. Because there are a variety of ways in which inflammation management after an injury like that could be a problem for a long time after the initial injury. And then tolerance for anti-inflammatory medications without wanting to abolish kidney function could permit someone to play a game one night and then want to take the next night off and such.

Yes. Played basketball for decades and had a few bad sprains.

It would be believable if the teams doing this regularly weren’t the same ones actively trying to lose as many games as possible.

It’s funny how the good teams actively chasing wins don’t have their players sitting for ankle injury ‘management’ a month after a minor sprain.

[GrandTheftRondo]

What is the resting situation you are referencing here?

Just look through any nights injury report and there will be bogus injuries everywhere.

You’ll routinely see the same players then play the next day or day after and be completely fine.

Teams are making a complete mockery of injury reporting and the sport itself

It’s a terrible look for the NBA when so many teams essentially quit from day one and don’t play their guys at any opportunity they can

[tsherkin]

Yes. Played basketball for decades and had a few bad sprains.

It would be believable if the teams doing this regularly weren’t the same ones actively trying to lose as many games as possible.

It’s funny how the good teams actively chasing wins don’t have their players sitting for ankle injury ‘management’ a month after a minor sprain.

Depends on the sprain and the player. Hard to evaluate just on that one. The cynicism is understandable, of course, and at least worth considering.

It's just that with ankles, there is at least the space to pause and consider.

[whitehops]

i'm 33 and have dealt with chronic injuries for over a decade from breaking an ankle when i was 18 and never rehabbing properly. pretty much all the workouts i do have some form of injury prevention and i load manage myself, even though i *could* play more basketball at the time i'll pay for it later. i'd rather be able to play whenever i want to and part of that means not playing 2+ hours at a time, not focusing on gains in the weight room and being diligent with my management workouts, etc.

i think you really have to have played at a semi-competitive (organized) level and watch what players put their bodies through today to truly appreciate that yeah, guys might need a break every once in a while so they can perform at a decent level when they're healthy.

i think the whole "preventative" approach in medicine really conflicts with sports fans who are impatient. taking preventative measures absolutely helps long-term but fans are hardly known for their patience.

[Dominator83]

Brandon Miller tonight takes the cake. He was fine to play in the weekend B2B, but then needs "injury management" after a day off?!

[tsherkin]

i'm 33 and have dealt with chronic injuries for over a decade from breaking an ankle when i was 18 and never rehabbing properly. pretty much all the workouts i do have some form of injury prevention and i load manage myself, even though i *could* play more basketball at the time i'll pay for it later. i'd rather be able to play whenever i want to and part of that means not playing 2+ hours at a time, not focusing on gains in the weight room and being diligent with my management workouts, etc.

i think you really have to have played at a semi-competitive (organized) level and watch what players put their bodies through today to truly appreciate that yeah, guys might need a break every once in a while so they can perform at a decent level when they're healthy.

i think the whole "preventative" approach in medicine really conflicts with sports fans who are impatient. taking preventative measures absolutely helps long-term but fans are hardly known for their patience.

My ankles, knee and SI joint all sympathize with you, whitehops.

[GrandTheftRondo]

Brandon Miller tonight takes the cake. He was fine to play in the weekend B2B, but then needs "injury management" after a day off?!

The best part is it’s a shoulder issue he had weeks ago.

[RookieStar]

Probably because im getting there in age, but i kinda sympathize with "load management" or resting or whatever you wanna call it.

I mean sure i remember my 20s when i could play 4x a week after work on a local gym but thats not the same as travelig to different states in between. Its usuay after a 2 hr game i drive home 30mins then rest. Lol

[tamaraw08]

What is the resting situation you are referencing here?

Just look through any nights injury report and there will be bogus injuries everywhere.

You’ll routinely see the same players then play the next day or day after and be completely fine.

Teams are making a complete mockery of injury reporting and the sport itself

It’s a terrible look for the NBA when so many teams essentially quit from day one and don’t play their guys at any opportunity they can

I can sympathize with older players but youngers one without any legit injuries?
I really think they should stretch the season and start by Early October to no more back to backs. Eliminate the Allstar game.
You then really hurt teams that rest players shamelessly by providing an extra Home game for the teams with the best records for the playoffs and all revenues for that extra home game should be distributed to the players directly.

[Ssj16]

The fact is, there are too many high profile players that have legit injuries. They need to reduce the games played in the season with zero back to backs and this would solve a lot of problems.

[Bolivar]

NBA regular season just doesn't serve any competitive purpose. It's not easy to make the playoffs in NHL; as of now there's teams with like 29 points out of 26 games below the line, and last two years champion Florida at 2nd to last spot in the East. They have to actually make an effort to have their spot in the playoffs. In the NFL it's even more so, you can have a good season winning most of your games and not make the playoffs (and these are real games, not some glorified exhibition like in the NBA)

In the NBA there's none of that: two thirds of the league who make the playoffs/play-ins and one third of the league that is actively trying to lose as much as possible. There's maybe 1 or 2 teams at most that didn't get what they wanted/expected when the regular season ends.

[ItsDanger]

NHL players don't have minutes restrictions when coming off injury list. Taking games off after returning is extremely rare.

Stop the excuses. We all know the truth. These guys are soft and pampered.

[SomeBunghole]

NHL players don't have minutes restrictions when coming off injury list.

NHL players also play about 1/3 of the game every night. It's the equivalent of top NBA players logging in 16 minutes a game.

The best pitchers in the MLB play about 20% of their team's games and sit out the other 80%.

Rotating players is a perfectly normal thing in both MLS and European football leagues.

No one except NBA fans complains that the athletes they idolize aren't running themselves into the ground during a fairly meaningless regular season.

[madmaxmedia]

Players are missing back to backs after spraining their ankle weeks ago to ‘recover’

So, your broader point has some teeth to it, but for this one, I have to wonder... have you ever sprained an ankle before? Like, no sass, serious question. Because there are a variety of ways in which inflammation management after an injury like that could be a problem for a long time after the initial injury. And then tolerance for anti-inflammatory medications without wanting to abolish kidney function could permit someone to play a game one night and then want to take the next night off and such.

Yes. Played basketball for decades and had a few bad sprains.

It would be believable if the teams doing this regularly weren’t the same ones actively trying to lose as many games as possible.

It’s funny how the good teams actively chasing wins don’t have their players sitting for ankle injury ‘management’ a month after a minor sprain.

I understand that players sitting out games is the net effect either way, but you are combining player rest/injury management and tanking, which are two different issues. So it seems unclear if your complaint was that players are getting unnecessary games off, or that too many teams are blatantly tanking (there are a lot of bad teams of course and this will surely be a thing especially after ASB.)

[NbaAllDay]

I stand by the fact that there is far more movement in the game today and the toll of 82 is far greater than it was in generations past.

The expanding of the court with more 3ps and far more requirements around lateral and "non up and down" movements puts additional stress on the body.

The "load management" is an attempt to counteractive the frankly overdone schedule.

Almost no other sport requires 3 games a week.

Yes the same old heads will pretend like playing 82 games and 40 minutes in the 90s is the same, but its not and we need to stop pretending like ti is.

It's only a joke because the NBA refuses to lose money by making the right adjustments.