The NBA recently introduced a policy that has left many people confused. The new player participation policy allows the league to fine teams if star players who are not injured, are rested during certain games. The policy is expected to have a big impact on the team plans in terms of load management. But, this is not what has people bewildered. If anything, fans, players, and analysts alike are wondering why such a policy has even been instated. This is especially true with Charles Barkley, who let it be known that he is unhappy with the policy. Speaking about the same on opening night, Sir Charles blasted the NBA and its players, who are earning millions to play basketball. He even called the current situation a joke and disgraceful. Kevin Garnett is also one with such sentiments, and he took to Instagram to share Chuck’s thoughts as he agreed with his statement.
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Kevin Garnett agrees with Charles Barkley about new “disgraceful” player participation policy
Charles Barkley comes from a time when NBA players strived to play every game in a season. As such, he isn’t the biggest fan of load management. But, when asked about the league’s new policy to deal with load management, Chuck expressed his disagreements. Bringing up the millions of dollars players make each year, Barkley suggested that the new policy is both a joke and a disgrace.
It was a bold statement, to say the least. But, one that a lot of people agree with, including Kevin Garnett. The Big Ticket advocated the Round Mound of Rebound’s statement, sharing it on his Instagram story. He commended his fellow Hall of Famer for speaking up against this new policy.
“Tell em Chuck.”
Garnett supports Barkley’s player participation take pic.twitter.com/lrU18pt8rp
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) October 26, 2023
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Garnett, along with his good friend and former teammate Paul Pierce, have been very vocal about their distaste for load management. In fact, both men have stated before that players are paid to play 82 games, exhibition games, and playoffs. As such, they find it astounding that certain players willingly choose to sit out games.
Adam Silver claims the new policy was instated purely in the interest of the fans
One of the major reasons why load management is such an issue is because of the fans. People are paying good money to see the top players in the NBA take the court. However, load management proves to be a huge stumbling block for that. As such, the new policy was implemented mainly to help the fans.
Speaking on Inside The NBA, commissioner Adam Silver listed out the various benefits of the new policy and how it was instated thanks to the collaborative effort of the league and the players association. The hope is to provide fans with a better experience while also incentivizing players to participate in more games.
There still are a lot of questions that need to be addressed with regard to this policy. But only time will tell if it will be as effective as the league hopes or as disastrous as others believe it will be.