Star players missing games continues to be a recurring and frustrating part of NBA discourse this season.
Steve Kerr lamented about too many games after sitting Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins in Cleveland on the second night of a back-to-back on January 20. Jimmy Butler went viral for meeting a fan who flew 4,000 miles to see him play only for him to sit out. Anthony Edwards spoke at length during All-Star media availability about players needing to play more.
The list goes on and on.
And now, Charles Barkley is weighing in. And he's not happy.
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In an interview with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith on First Take, Barkley didn't hold back when asked if he thought load management was a big issue in today's NBA. Specifically, he tied load management to soaring player salaries and the bad optics it sends to fans.
"I don't think fans get mad if you're making 30, 40, 50 million dollars and playing basketball every night. But you can't make 30, 40, 50 million dollars and then sit out games. I think it's disrespectful to the game, I think it's disrespectful to the fans. These fans are paying their hard-earned money.
"What's going to be crazy, in this next TV negotiating deal, we're going to have guys making 70 or 80 million dollars a year! And [the fans] are going to say 'wait a minute, you're going to make 70 million dollars and you can't play basketball three or four days a week?' They fly private, they got the best medical stuff ever created.
"It ain't like we working in a steel mill. There are people working in a steel mill and I'm pretty sure they're tired too. But they go to work every day. I think load management is a big problem."
Charles Barkley weighs in on load management in the NBA:
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 27, 2023
"You can't make $30, $40, $50 million and then sit out games. I think it's disrespectful to the game, I think it's disrespectful to the fans." pic.twitter.com/WLFTnhRCV7
Barkley also placed some blame at the feet of NBA commissioner Adam Silver, explaining that what began as a well-intentioned effort to help players by reducing back-to-backs has now simply gone too far.
The numbers paint a clear picture of load management taking on a life of its own in recent years. Consider the following:
- Of the 27 players who made the All-Star team this year, only two — Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards — have appeared in every single game.
- Not a single All-Star played 77 or more games last year. 14 of them did as recently as 2018-19.
- The last players to make the All-Star team and appear in 82 games were Bradley Beal and Kemba Walker in 2018-19. In 2002-03, seven All-Stars appeared in all 82 games.
- Only five players appeared in 82 games last season. That's down from 17 in 2016-17, 32 in 2010-11 and 42 in 2001-02.
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And make no mistake, players don't bare the sole responsibility either.
Training staffs, front offices and coaches have more data than ever before about increased injury risk factors associated with the schedule. And with that knowledge comes organizational pressure put on players to protect longer-term interests (i.e. being healthy for the playoffs) by sitting out higher-risk games.
The best-kept secret — and one that perhaps teams should be more open about — is that training staffs often identify potential rest games for certain players months in advance. While never set in stone, healthy scratches typically aren't announced until hours before tip, far too late for fans who have already purchased tickets.
It's a complicated matter with no clear answer. But it's one that behooves everyone to fix before fans start turning away in droves.
The most common solution offered up is to reduce the number of regular season games, as championed by Kerr. But money talks and good luck convincing players, owners or the league itself to willingly give up money out of the goodness of their heart.
While the NBA has significantly reduced the number of back-to-backs and instituted schedule quirks like two-game mini-series with teams playing twice in a row to reduce travel, those clearly haven't panned out.
Whatever is for certain, Charles Barkley is right: the NBA has a load management problem.
