Load management is a practice in the NBA where a healthy player is held out of playing in a game for rest or precautionary reasons to avoid long-term fatigue and injuries. It has become a common practice in the NBA in recent years due to the league’s relatively long 82-game regular season schedule, plus additional playoff games. The decision to rest an available player is usually made by the coaching staff and player together. Load management is not just about limiting players playing too many minutes per game, but it also determines how often they should work out, practice, travel, and everything else surrounding those game minutes as well.
The term “load management” can be traced back to the 2010s when the San Antonio Spurs would rest their top players. In 2012, the Spurs were fined $250,000 for resting four key players during a much-anticipated, nationally televised matchup with the Miami Heat. The NBA Commissioner at the time, David Stern, said, “The Spurs decided to...” .
Load management has been a topic of discussion around the NBA for years and gets resurfaced every time a team rests star players. The league has tried to prevent it from happening by limiting the number of back-to-back games on the schedule, especially ahead of nationally televised matchups so that the biggest stars are playing in the marquee matchups. However, the league has also approved new player participation policies that will see teams receiving hefty fines if they sit a star player in a nationally televised game or an in-season tournament game.
Load management is a debated issue in the NBA, and some people think it can impact the league’s bottom line. The real, lasting solution would be a reduction in the NBA schedule, something the league has tentatively explored.
