NBA Official: Load Management is No Longer Backed by Scientific Data

The term "load management" has become a hot topic in the NBA over the last several seasons.

"Load management," which is when teams rest players to prevent injury and preserve them for the playoffs, is "no longer supported by scientific data held by" the NBA, a league official told The Athletic's Joe Vardon and Sam Amick.

"Before, it was a given conclusion that the data showed that you had to rest players a certain amount, and that justified them sitting out," Joe Dumars, executive vice president of basketball operations for the NBA, said.

"We've gotten more data, and it just doesn't show that resting, sitting guys out correlates with lack of injuries, or fatigue, or anything like that. What it does show is maybe guys aren't as efficient on the second night of a back to back."

Through "load management" many of the NBA's top stars sit out extra games for rest to preserve themselves in hopes of making a run to the NBA Finals.

While the phenomenon has become a hot topic, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said during last season's All-Star weekend in February that he didn't think the league's biggest players were missing too many games, saying that "there is real medical data and scientific data about what's appropriate."

However, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association agreed in April that for players to be eligible for honors including the MVP award and All-NBA teams, they must play a minimum of 65 games.

Additionally, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported last month that the NBA's Board of Governors approved a rule preventing teams from resting two star players in the same game. For example, the Phoenix Suns wouldn't be allowed to rest Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on the same night.

If a team violates the policy, they will be fined, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. A first offense results in a fine worth $100,000 and a second offense is a fine worth $250,000. Any additional violation would be "$1 million more than the previous penalty for each additional violation."

The new policies have been implemented in an attempt to incentivize star players to suit up for as many games as possible. Star players sitting out games has impacted nationally televised games and affected how fans go about purchasing tickets—they won't want to attend or watch a game that their favorite player(s) isn't participating in.

With these new policies, fans should expect to see the league's biggest players in action on a more regular basis during the 2023-24 season and beyond. The regular season begins on Oct. 24.