Heat's Bam Adebayo Calls Out Players for Load Management; Talks Impact of Kobe Bryant

Bam Adebayo is not a fan of load management.

The Miami Heat center called out his fellow players for the practice, noting kids and their parents use their hard-earned money to see players on the court.

"A lot of guys sitting, like load management," Adebayo said on the To Inspire podcast when asked what bothers him about the modern game. "That bothers me in a sense, because you have kids and parents who want to see you play. ... I remember as a kid, I would have gave my last dollar and my foot to watch Kobe Bryant play. So, I know if I felt like that, there's a lot of other kids who feel like that. For me, I feel like that's the least quality I don't like about players in this league."

Adebayo played in 75 games last season, the second-most of any Heat player behind Max Strus. He played in a maximum of 154 games between the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons before suffering injuries each of the last three years that kept him out for a limited amount of time.

It's worth noting that the concept of "load management" is largely one that started on the management side of things. Teams have invested millions of dollars into sports science to determine the best ways to avoid long-term injuries for players, and that has resulted in players taking more time for rest.

It's not entirely clear whether those plans have worked, as injuries remain an issue across the league, but it's hard to put the blame on players. This has been a data-based decision more than players simply not feeling like performing on the court.