The NBA world is stark-raving mad when the Sacramento Kings are resting players 17 days before their summer vacations begin.
Imagine: Boogie, Rajon and all the guys are headed for another early offseason — this makes 10 consecutive years that the Kings won’t be making the playoffs — and they’re getting time off. To do what? Rest up for their trips to Cabo San Lucas? Well, at least they’ll be nice and fresh for their vacations.
MORE: Best active NBA players by age | Best NBA draft prospects in Final Four
Sure, Rajon Rondo, DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay have minor ailments now. That’s the logic for resting them against the Trail Blazers, at least. But resting players has become such an accepted practice these days that no one seems to have an issue with it.
“I think it will happen some more,” Sacramento coach George Karl said. “I don't think there's an exact schedule yet, but I think you'll see us do it a little bit more, especially in back-to-back situations.”
It’s that kind of thinking that gets the NBA on the wrong side of scores of loyal fans, especially the ones who remember the days when stars prided themselves on playing all 82 games. Whether the season needs to be shortened or whether the 82-game schedule needs tweaking, starting with the elimination of some pre-season games, the rest issue is going to have to be addressed by Adam Silver and the National Basketball Players Association in the next labor discussions.
Yes, there are times when fans understand why players sit. The fans in Oklahoma City probably could understand it when Clippers coach Doc Rivers sat Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan and J.J. Redick against the Thunder. The Clips were coming into town off a game in Minneapolis the night before and also playing their fourth game in five nights. They’re also virtually locked into fourth place in the West, so there’s not a lot for them to play for at this stage.
Thunder fans could probably commiserate with their brethren in Detroit. Two nights earlier, the Thunder rested Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka in Auburn Hills after playing the night before in Toronto. For Pistons fans who get to see Durant only once a year in person, the decision to rest him must have been truly disappointing.
But what the Kings did was ridiculous, even if winning could adversely affect their lottery pick. If they finish outside the bottom 10, they’ll lose their first-round pick to Chicago. Still, it’s not as if they’ve been marching through the competition with their three top players, as their woeful 30-44 record attests.
At least down the road, the Warriors are handling the rest issue the correct way.
There’s no rest for the weary. The Warriors are not taking any nights off — even Friday's loss to the Celtics. They’re committed to chasing down history and the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, so nobody is looking to sit out of games to get ready to defend their title.
Good for them.
We need a team like Golden State to balance the scales because in addition to the Kings and the Thunder, the “rest” crowd was back at it this past week. LeBron James, who wants to shorten the 82-game schedule, took the night off in Cleveland against Houston, and we don’t have a problem with that. But then he nearly worked up a sweat running around the sidelines in his street clothes as if he were Tyronn Lue’s assistant coach.
MORE: Kyrie Irving says Cavs are 'team to beat'; LeBron disagrees
LeBron sat out his team’s loss, probably not making Mark Cuban and the Mavericks very happy because they’re competing for a playoff spot against the Rockets. Troubling as it was to see James up and masquerading as a coach, what Stephen Curry did the other night warmed hearts. After winning at home against Washington on Tuesday, the reigning MVP came right back the next night in Utah and logged 42 minutes — his most since a Dec. 11 win at Boston — to help the Warriors get their 68th win, in overtime. Yup, he’s a throwback.
Judging from Curry’s approach, there’s no way the Warriors are going to ask for a night off when they can see one of the great records in all of American sports well within their grasp.
“It is something we want to do,” Draymond Green said. “We've spoken on this. It is no secret."
Added Klay Thompson, “We realize we can make history and that helps because it keeps you focused every game. You don't want to get this far and not go for it.”
Chances are, if they didn’t have a chance to break a record linked to Michael Jordan, they would be resting players, too. But that would be acceptable because they’re likely to be playing into June.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, a member of the 1995-96 Bulls that won 72 games, wasn’t always keen on going after the record. It wasn’t because he wanted to protect Jordan’s Bulls. He had more practical concerns — not wanting to pursue the record at the expense of wearing out his players. But lately he’s given the chase his blessing, with some provisions.
“Our team wants it," he said. "They've made it pretty clear, so what we're doing is listening to them and trusting them that if they're injured, they're going to let us know. And if that's the case, we'll give them a rest. And if they feel like they're perfectly capable of getting out there and playing and that's what they want to do, then that's what we'll do."
So they’re not going to rest. In this day and age, that’s a welcome, refreshing approach.
