Adam Silver talks load management, calls out Spurs executive

[SUPERVILLAIN]

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[ElectricMayhem]

He sounds like he's truly angry about this, then realizes he's emoting a little too much, then tries to pass it off as a joke without really knowing how one passes something off as a joke.

[Phreak50]

At least the Spurs were always honest about it and said they needed the rest so 'fine us'.

None of these fake injuries that most other teams have stated.

[pipfan]

I think this is a big problem for the league-it's one of the reasons I would reduce the schedule to 76 games, over the same time period. Somehow the teams would have to agree then to no more rest-and 6 fewer games would reduce injuries a bit, and improve the overall play

[Da ThRONe]

If one of the best most successful organization decides to rest player maybe instead of blaming them you take heed. The season is too long for the amount of specialization and off season training it now takes to be a top level NBA player. And quite frankly the vast majority of the fan base can't realistically consume the entire 82 +games a year of their own favorite team.

[magee]

The issue isn't the teams looking out for their players. It's the League advertising players on the road for fans to come see. So while it may be worthwhile in the interim to let a local fan base know ahead-of-time a player is out, that doesn't warrant the Mom or Dad buying tickets for their kid/kids to see their favorite player Live when the schedule gets released.

And the players may not realize it and the owners can't get a grasp on it because they are looking out for the Mean with their fan base, yet I grew up in the "we're going to THIS game" era for families. So I can recognize that the shelf-life for this type of planning is pretty slim.

The main issue is when the League tries to look out for the family in this situation, when in reality the League clearly knows that Long Game vs Short Game is a little slanted for their franchise. Just sad that economics play a part into this to where the entire schedule would change if every team "tipped" their hand ahead of time because of their
Schedule.

That all being said, nothing will change except for Betting Odds. I've seen enough trends these last two years to know it won't change any time soon.

[MAMBAEMD]

Silver is right to call out the Spurs for this.
Popovich and the Spurs are the ones who perfected this strategy along with tanking, two of the most frustrating and shameful strategies for NBA teams to adopt in my opinion.

[Tim Kempton]

This is a legitimate issue that should be discussed during the next CBA negotiations, but it would be nearly impossible to regulate since teams can just claim a minor injury. I can't imagine how it must feel for fans buying tickets weeks/months in advance to see a specific player only for him to voluntarily sit out for the 18th time.

[Monky15]

Of course MVP calibre players will want rest days when they are being paid similar money to borderline All Stars.

[FJS]

Tanking & load management = RS does not mean a thing.

[AdagioPace]

Silver is right to call out the Spurs for this.
Popovich and the Spurs are the ones who perfected this strategy along with tanking, two of the most frustrating and shameful strategies for NBA teams to adopt in my opinion.

when the goal is winning with a veteran roster (Spurs 2011-2017), avoiding predictable injuries in 100+ games season is key. Spurs did what they were supposed to do within the realm of tolerance and they had a league-wide impact on players management.
If I was a tourist I would go watch a game in LA, not San Antonio. When Spurs were competing on a serious level, it was more about competition/winning and less about producing something for the occasional viewer.

[durden_tyler]

Nah teams will find a way to bend the rules to their favor especially regarding this. Spurs did what they have to do and it was wise of them to take advantage of it.

[Pennebaker]

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He's not wrong.

I remember the time this started when Pop didn't play Duncan, Parker, Manu or Danny Green in a nationally televised game against the Heatles back in 2012. Not just that, but Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Green weren't even in the building. They were already on a plane back to San Antonio. The NBA was livid.

The starless Spurs played well but that's not the point. Ticket prices are high and the fans expect to see stars at those prices.

[bbalnation]

Adam has been showing his real vision & objectives more and more lately (the Gambling lobbys hold on the NBA, etc) and its not in line at all with what I have in mind- nor am I impressed.

Being proactive with the health of players as a response to the leagues schedule is nothing to publically shame others for, even if theres a perceived short term impact on profit.

It looks like the NBA is still doing pretty **** great financially, despite the beginning of load management, which is a reaction to a schedule littered with back to backs and unnecessary travel coast to coast.

ESPECIALLY when the NBA as a league is set to implement 60 games or less in the next decade. That reflects reality and truth in what RC Burford was thinking over a decade ago: along with many other players, health support staff and organizational management.

[JayMKE]

There would be guys load managing and not caring even if the game was 40 games so I think its silly to think a reduction in games/revenue would fix much. More benchmarks or scaling for pay for games played especially nationally televised ones maybe. There are too many playoff teams, I'm not a fan of the play ins with cheapen RS further. If the Spurs didn't do it first someone else would have, its just reality of modern sports and NBA right now.

[Quattro]

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He's not wrong.

I remember the time this started when Pop didn't play Duncan, Parker, Manu or Danny Green in a nationally televised game against the Heatles back in 2012. Not just that, but Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Green weren't even in the building. They were already on a plane back to San Antonio. The NBA was livid.

The starless Spurs played well but that's not the point. Ticket prices are high and the fans expect to see stars at those prices.

Fans? Who cares about them?

[Phreak50]

Silver is right to call out the Spurs for this.
Popovich and the Spurs are the ones who perfected this strategy along with tanking, two of the most frustrating and shameful strategies for NBA teams to adopt in my opinion.

Yeah because Robinson's broken foot and his back injury (that later shortened his career) was faked during that so called 'tanking' year.

Lakers fans...

[ElectricMayhem]

Would it help if they made all contracts a percentage base pay and made the rest of it commensurate to how many games in an 82-game schedule they played?

I'm sure there are ways to work around workarounds as well (e.g. 20-minute minimum or something like that).

[dhsilv2]

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He's not wrong.

I remember the time this started when Pop didn't play Duncan, Parker, Manu or Danny Green in a nationally televised game against the Heatles back in 2012. Not just that, but Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Green weren't even in the building. They were already on a plane back to San Antonio. The NBA was livid.

The starless Spurs played well but that's not the point. Ticket prices are high and the fans expect to see stars at those prices.

You think THAT was the start of load managing? Cause I was already expecting the spurs to sit guys for that game because it was well established that they would do just that. Silver comes off like a moron to question if load management works, while blaming the most successful franchise of the last 25 years.

[kenwood3333]

What about healthy players under contractand refusing to play because of fall out or no longer in playoff contention? Or teams refusing to play healthy players?