Power Puff Kawhi is out again - Load Management Folks, Folk You!

[duppyy]

I see no problem with it. People say to shorten the season but you think that will stop teams from resting players when the end goal is to be healthy for the playoffs?

[Greyhound]

Suppose you have a son that is 10-15 years old maybe. He loves the NBA and Kawhi is his favorite player. You live in Chicago. Your son's favorite player comes to town once a year. Decent tickets, even just two, will run you atleast a couple of hundred bucks by the time you commute and park, etc.
The day before the game, it is announced that Kawhi is going to be out. Not because of injury, no !! He is just saving himself for more important games.

How pissed off are you going to be? What will be the impression left on your child??

This hits the nail on the head. The NBA markets it's STARS, not teams - this isn't the NFL.

I can't even imagine if Lebron just randomly started sitting 25% of the games for example, the TV partners would go ballistic.

Then Silver would be on out TV’s tap dancing like Jiminy Cricket.

[duppyy]

Exactly. The problem is that Kawhi and the clippers came out and said no load management this season. 8 games in and he has already missed two of eight games. It's dishonest.

Stop spewing falsehoods. They never said there will be no load management. They said it would be game to game basis. They said Kawhi was healthy but never once said "oh no load management". You can be perfectly healthy and rest games. Yes it sucks he isn't playing but they didn't lie about it. The only dishonest person in this conversation is you.

At the introductory press conference, when Kawhi was asked if he would continue load management with the Clippers, the first word out of his mouth was "No". And yet here we are, not even one month into the season... managing his load. Clippers and Kawhi just need to come clean on this.

When asked whether or not he would continue with the same load management plan he operated with last season with the Toronto Raptors, Leonard said the following, per a video shared by the LA Times’ Andrew Greif:

“No. I mean, I was injured last year coming in, so that was the only way I could play the schedule and not really affect the team and the outcomes. So this year will be a lot different.”

Leonard has hinted at his improved health a few times since joining the Clippers, but this is the first time he’s given a definitive answer as to whether or not he’ll be on a load management plan this season.

https://clipperholics.com/2019/10/18/la-clippers-kawhi-leonard-load-manage/

Fake news


Its all falsehoods!

[Plain Old Josh]

Kawhi in 2018-2019:
Regular season - 97th in minutes played. 22 games missed.
Playoffs - 1st in minutes played. 0 games missed.

As Charles Oakley once said, "If it ain't broke, don't break it". It's up to the NBA to step in and stop Kawhi from doing this. If you let him do what he wants, we know what he's gonna do.

[zimpy27]

Kind of makes you wonder why Kawhi only took a 2 year deal if his leg is still bothering him. Go figure.

In 2 years he can sign the 35% max which is the equivalent of a supermax contract.

I can see him getting through these two seasons, getting the contract and falling into a heap the season after.

[The4thHorseman]

The amount of blatant ignorance in this thread is staggering. No Kawhi is not injured, BUT he has a degenerative quad condition which flares up due to overuse. As such, he will never be a full season player. Ever. Part of keeping him healthy and the quad from flaring up is regular load management. Otherwise he'll start limping and be very limited in his ability to play the game at full strength. You can't compare Kawhi to all the other stars because they don't have a permanent, degenerative condition to deal with.

I say bull****.

There's no way to guarantee that if sits out one night and plays the next, that there's no chance of his quad flaring up. Or once that April rolls around people will be saying, "if he didn't sit out on November 6th, there's no way he'd be healthy right now.

If it's allegedly a degenerative condition, it's going to continue to get worse regardless of what he's doing.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Kind of makes you wonder why Kawhi only took a 2 year deal if his leg is still bothering him. Go figure.

In 2 years he can sign the 35% max which is the equivalent of a supermax contract.

I can see him getting through these two seasons, getting the contract and falling into a heap the season after.

Ballmer is leveraged because he's building a ****ing stadium. Kawhi is getting that max from him whether he's limping through two seasons or not. He just needs more rest than an average player to play at his peak.

[An Unbiased Fan]

Kawhi in 2018-2019:
Regular season - 97th in minutes played. 22 games missed.
Playoffs - 1st in minutes played. 0 games missed.

As Charles Oakley once said, "If it ain't broke, don't break it". It's up the NBA to step in and stop Kawhi from doing this. If you let him do what he wants, we know what he's gonna do.

Big difference between the West and East though. Kawhi may get rest, but the rest of that squad will have to play harder games as a result. In general, teams of the past rested during the 4th quarters since they usually led by 10+ half the games. This rests your star, and the support players too. In SA, Pop would rotate rest, but had the depth to do that. Nevermind seeding and how big it is in the West.

[Forte IV]

Exactly. The problem is that Kawhi and the clippers came out and said no load management this season. 8 games in and he has already missed two of eight games. It's dishonest.

Stop spewing falsehoods. They never said there will be no load management. They said it would be game to game basis. They said Kawhi was healthy but never once said "oh no load management". You can be perfectly healthy and rest games. Yes it sucks he isn't playing but they didn't lie about it. The only dishonest person in this conversation is you.

At the introductory press conference, when Kawhi was asked if he would continue load management with the Clippers, the first word out of his mouth was "No". And yet here we are, not even one month into the season... managing his load. Clippers and Kawhi just need to come clean on this.

When asked whether or not he would continue with the same load management plan he operated with last season with the Toronto Raptors, Leonard said the following, per a video shared by the LA Times’ Andrew Greif:

“No. I mean, I was injured last year coming in, so that was the only way I could play the schedule and not really affect the team and the outcomes. So this year will be a lot different.”

Leonard has hinted at his improved health a few times since joining the Clippers, but this is the first time he’s given a definitive answer as to whether or not he’ll be on a load management plan this season.

https://clipperholics.com/2019/10/18/la-clippers-kawhi-leonard-load-manage/

That doesn't mean he said no load management. He just said it wont be as severe. Kawhi also sat out normal games that weren't b2bs last year. Per my post, thats what I'm saying, but thank you so much for twisting my words to fit your narrative. Great job.

You didn't even read the very quote you posted. No where does it ask if he will not load manage at all. He was asked if it would be the same load management program. Not "will you never load manage this year". Read people.

[kuclas]

I don’t have a problem with nba players load management. The key is to deliver them for the playoffs in tact. That is all that matters for contending teams.

Major League Baseball started doing “load” management on pitchers more than a decade ago and it’s gotten to where if a pitcher goes 5 innings it was considered a quality pitching start. It used to be 7 innings was a quality start.

So look for more nba teams to continue load management on their marquee players. Especially guy with injury history.

[TheDoors24]

6 games in and he's already taking 2 games off for load management!!!!!! Jesus Christ that is absurd. My god is the league soft as hell now. This is embarrassing. 6 games and the already taking a 2nd game off on national tv against the MVP. How fn'g stupid is that. The league should be embarrassed and ESPN should rightfully be furious. ESPN TV money helps pay these players so if that goes away lets see how much load management they take.

[JeepCSC]

If it means he is healthy enough to make it through the playoffs I don’t care at all. I just don’t want any more playoff series decided by injury

Just stop with the regular-season at this point. Add 2 teams, do lottery balls for seedings, have a best-of-9 tournament, and call it a day. No more “meaningless” games.

[KqWIN]

It sucks that the best players are sitting out. I understand why people are upset, but I also understand why players sit out. Instead of calling the players babies or being high and mighty with the load management takes, we should look at the real problem.

The regular season doesn’t matter.

[OkcSinceSGA]

Obviously the Clippers and Kawhi lied about no load management. That being said, 13 games missed vs 22, still technically means he played more games when healthy. Clippers aren't resting him the way Toronto did. It seems to be only B2B related.

If the league knows you got a guy like Kawhi, and still scheduled a bunch of B2B that's on them. B2B's honestly shouldn't exist anymore. Without them teams will be healthier and fresher.

[QRich3]

I mean, let's be honest, not one of the people complaining here is one of the hypothetical "what if a kid bought a ticket and he just crushed his dreams". It's just people upset that Kawhi didn't choose their team in free agency, or that he's ranked over their favorite player, and just use any chance they get to whine about him. Just call a spade a spade man.

[thebigbird]

It sucks that the best players are sitting out. I understand why people are upset, but I also understand why players sit out. Instead of calling the players babies or being high and mighty with the load management takes, we should look at the real problem.

The regular season doesn’t matter.

Then get rid of the regular season. If it doesn't matter then why have it at all?

[liamliam1234]

Suppose you have a son that is 10-15 years old maybe. He loves the NBA and Kawhi is his favorite player. You live in Chicago. Your son's favorite player comes to town once a year. Decent tickets, even just two, will run you atleast a couple of hundred bucks by the time you commute and park, etc.
The day before the game, it is announced that Kawhi is going to be out. Not because of injury, no !! He is just saving himself for more important games.

How pissed off are you going to be? What will be the impression left on your child??

"Won't someone please think of the children? "

You mean the future ticket buyers? It's not a plea for the children, it is simply bad business to disappoint the next generation of fans.

Let's be honest, families are a big part of NBA revenue. Single people like me would rather get **** up at home and illegally stream the game

You know what is worse business?

Having your star players diminished for the playoffs because they treated the regular season as a bigger deal than it actually is.

Stop sulking.

[KqWIN]

It sucks that the best players are sitting out. I understand why people are upset, but I also understand why players sit out. Instead of calling the players babies or being high and mighty with the load management takes, we should look at the real problem.

The regular season doesn’t matter.

Then get rid of the regular season. If it doesn't matter then why have it at all?

The grind of 82 games does not fit the reward of home court that can be taken in one playoff game. Any team that is championship competitive is not going to struggle to make it in, and the reward for a team who barely makes it in is most often a quick 4 or 5 game whooping.

My idea is to make the regular season a championship. Why does it matter in European football? Because it's a championship.

[JeepCSC]

I mean, let's be honest, not one of the people complaining here is one of the hypothetical "what if a kid bought a ticket and he just crushed his dreams". It's just people upset that Kawhi didn't choose their team in free agency, or that he's ranked over their favorite player, and just use any chance they get to whine about him. Just call a spade a spade man.

How lucky you are that everyone that disagrees with you is a sore loser devoid of reason. You have chosen your enemies well.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Obviously the Clippers and Kawhi lied about no load management. That being said, 13 games missed vs 22, still technically means he played more games when healthy. Clippers aren't resting him the way Toronto did. It seems to be only B2B related.

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He missed a bunch of games last year with a sprained ankle and a bruised hip, too. We really don't know what Toronto's plan was. They weren't upfront about it and left Nick Nurse in the lurch. Even players said they didn't know when he was playing. It appears as though it was on back-to-backs and then whenever their tests revealed too much inflammation. Doc could shut down a lot of questions by just saying, "yeah, that's what we're doing... for now." I don't see the drawback.