The NBA’s Load Management

The language of the NBA continues to reflect the league’s image-consciousness as well as its sense of humor. Every season there are a number of teams for which winning is obviously not a priority, in hopes of of “earning” a high pick in that summer’s NBA Draft. Not sure what it should be called, but you don’t dare call it “tanking.” Every season there are top players who sit out regular-season games solely to rest their aching bodies. But you don’t dare call it “rest.” The latest injury reports for an otherwise healthy player not suiting up on a given night now employ the term “Load Management” which is normally used to describe the distribution of electricity. The NBA’s load management concept is similar in some ways to the pitch count or innings limit in baseball; it’s about preservation of it’s top players for bigger and better things.

What Is This Rest Load Management You Speak Of?

The term load management is merely an analytically-driven, fancy way of saying “rest”. Teams are now getting closer to the truth when explaining why an otherwise healthy player doesn’t suit up, but still can’t really come out and say it. You know the team is merely resting the player, and the team knows it but it just doesn’t look good to admit it. The old-timers are probably having a field day with this one.

The Evolution of injury Terms

In the past, the explanation for a player not suiting up was just a body part preceded by the word “sore” or the ever-popular “deep thigh bruise.” It probably wasn’t totally dishonest because at a certain point of the season it’s not difficult to imagine that everything hurts, so maybe a “sore heel” was a legitimate reason to sit out. Then as time wore on, only the body part was listed and the malady was left out. So reasons given were something like (Did Not Play – knee) or simply (foot). For a brief period the term “rest” was used openly (“He would actually suit up if this were a playoff game.”), but some folks don’t think players making so much money need rest, especially on the one night they decide to splurge for tickets.

So now on any given night you might see a crawl at the bottom of your television screen that says, “Player A out tonight versus Suns (Load Management).” Or you can check the boxscore the next day and next to Player A’s name you’ll see “DNP – Load Management.”

Most Likely Candidates For Load Management

1. Star Player Coming Off A Major Injury – we’ve seen it this year with Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard, who will sit out the second leg of back-to-back games on occasion. Unfortunately, Leonard’s name is becoming synonymous with load management as the season goes on. Next season, the Dallas Mavericks will likely do the same thing with Kristaps Porzingis who is coming off a torn ACL and will be at least 1.5 years removed from competitive basketball.
2. Star Player In Anticipation of a Long Postseason Run – As the regular season winds down and teams have secured playoff spots, they’ll rest strategically manage the workload of their top players to preserve them for the two-month grind required to compete for a championship. This action is even more likely against an inferior opponent, as in “we can beat you with our bench.”
3. Player of Advanced Basketball Age Regardless of Postseason Aspirations – Players in their early-to-mid thirties will occasionally get the load management treatment just because they’re more likely to break down.
4. Player Who Has Participated in the NBA Finals for Eight Consecutive Seasons – Lebron James has played in 178 playoff games over the past eight seasons, the equivalent of slightly more than two additional regular seasons. So he’s played 10 NBA seasons in eight years. In his case “DNP – Because I’m bleeping exhausted” is an acceptable excuse, though he’ll get a longer rest than usual after this season.
5. Team Is Tanking Deferring Winning In Hopes Of Landing A Top Draft Pick – The current draft lottery setup encourages losing. Until this changes, the players who can have unwanted positive effects on their team’s fortunes will experience load management.

What Can Be Done To Reduce Load Management?

Short of reducing the number of regular-season games or playoff rounds, probably very little, and we all know neither of those is an option. Meanwhile, even spectators who play it safe and purchase tickets on game night run the risk of hearing of a late scratch of a marquee player due to load management. In a collaborative effort involving players and management, the league needs to figure out a way to make regular-season games more meaningful. An overhaul of the current draft lottery system would be a good place to start.

Might Wanna Check That Schedule

In the meantime, if you’re the type who attends the occasional NBA contest in person, do yourself a favor and check that schedule to see if the player you really want to see played the night before or will play the following night. If your local team is on the lousy side, and the player you want to see is with the visiting team, the risk is even greater, especially during March and April.

Leave Load Management To The Professional Athlete

You: I’m just calling to let you know I won’t be in today.

Boss: OK. Are you not feeling well?

You: I’m feeling fine.

Boss: Did you have a planned vacation day?

You: No, I’ve used all my vacation for the year.

Boss: Do you have a family emergency?

You: No.

Boss: Are you expecting a furniture delivery? Having a satellite dish installed? Transportation issues?

You: No, no and no.

Boss: Then why aren’t you coming to work?

You: Load management.

Boss: Load what?

You: Load management. See, I’ve been doing these analytics, right? And I’ve determined that in order to maintain peak efficiency for the upcoming busy season…

Boss: I got it. I understand because I’ve been doing some analytics of my own, and I’ve determined that in order maintain peak efficiency for the upcoming busy season, I’ll look forward to seeing you at 9:00AM for some workload management! (Loud click. Dial tone.)

Load Management. I can’t wait to see how the league tops this one. When we start hearing high school and college athletes using this terminology, it’s over.

Photo by Fré Sonneveld on Unsplash