With stakes getting higher each season for the franchises in the NBA, load management is not a taboo anymore that most teams in the yesteryears would criticize like a crime. Anthony Edwards though still feels it’s a crime to rob fans of the pleasure of watching their favorite players after spending a huge amount for the same.
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NBA players earn top dollars in the sports world doing what they love. If you ask previous generations of players like Kobe Bryant and stars before him, it would be a shame for them to miss a game when fans had spent their hard-earned money just to watch them play and not for the result of the game.
Now, a person is paying $140 at the very least even if they are a Rockets or Pacers fan to sometimes not see the star player of the team suit up at all. Edwards for one has had enough of it.
Anthony Edwards calls out players and the NBA for load management
The league, which also relies on the ticket fare to maintain its finances a lot, should understand how much one ticket’s price means to a common man. When they spend 100s of dollars just to see their favorite player ball, and he is not suiting up in a game due to some kind of soreness, they feel betrayed.
But the Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star has their back and he wants every NBA player to understand their responsibility towards the fans.
It makes sense if a 38-year-old takes a rest on a given night after serving the league for 19-20 years straight but when guys in their 20s and early 30s sit out citing silly injuries, it’s a matter of shame. And if a 21-year-old can understand it, so can the rest of the league.
Load management has become a serious problem for the popularity of the game
Kawhi Leonard has been doing it almost since the start of his career in San Antonio and is still doing it with the Clippers every now and then even after missing out on the whole of the 2021-22 season.
This season we already saw the top MVP candidate Nikola Jokic sit out a game against the Philadelphia 76ers when a game against him and Joel Embiid is one of the most anticipated games of the season.
“Something tells me players at the end of the day will not really care,” an executive recently told CBS Sports.
Another executive said, “NBPA will never allow it because too many players’ contracts are affected by those postseason awards, and agents use those awards to establish comps and value during contract negotiations.”
You might also want to know what the President of the National Basketball Players Association, CJ McCollum recently said on the matter.
