The Denver Nuggets beat the Golden State Warriors 114-105 last night, but the real story wasn’t that the Nuggets won, but how they did it. Denver rested three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Christian Braun, even though none are dealing with serious injury. This was a nationally televised game and a much-anticipated matchup, since the Nuggets’ are one of the top teams in the West, and the Warriors’ have won 12 of 13 games. But it was another black eye for the NBA in its ongoing battle against team load management.
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This news piles on to the recent announcement that the NBA is investigating Oklahoma City for a violation of the Player Participation Policy for resting their entire starting five in a win over the Blazers nearly two weeks ago.
ESPN senior NBA writer Tim Bontemps appeared on Get Up this morning to discuss the game. He was clearly bummed about not seeing Nikola Jokic and Steph Curry battle in a game with major playoff implications, and talked about what a disappointment it was that the Nuggets chose to rest their stars in a showcase game for the league.
“It’s just a horrible look for the league, and it’s a horrible situation because I was excited to see what I could learn from Golden State playing these guys. Instead, they have everybody out.”
Bontemps pointed out that if the Nuggets wanted to get their players some rest, they could have done it when they played the Wizards on Saturday, since Washington is the worst team in the league. Instead, fans were deprived of seeing a great matchup.
Adam Silver is fighting a losing battle against load management
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has done all he can to deal with teams sitting players, including mandating that to be eligible for postseason awards such as MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and All-NBA, a player must play in 65 games minimum. That was supposed to incentivize the top players to play more often, but it’s seemingly had little effect.
The NBA should be in a great spot. There’s never been more talent in the league, and the biggest stars and teams are all major players in the race for the Larry O’Brien trophy. Just look at the Lakers, Celtics, and Knicks as proof. Still, the league is fighting an ongoing perception that it is in trouble.
People have harped on ratings being down, and it certainly doesn’t help when the best player in the league needlessly sits in a game that so many fans were anticipating.
The fact that the Nuggets won is beside the point, because most people that stuck around to watch the game spent the entire time unhappily wondering why they weren’t getting what was advertised. Many others likely tuned out completely.
Silver needs to think outside the box because the changes he’s already made aren’t working. Shortening the schedule would reduce wear and tear on the players, but the owners don’t want to make less revenue. Players already make an exorbitant amount of money, so monetary incentive won’t work either.
Who knows what the solution is, but if Silver wants to avoid more bad press, he had better figure it out.
