NBA pushes back on report linking Cup schedule to injury spike

The NBA pushed back this week against a column by The Athletic’s John Hollinger, who questioned whether the league’s early-season schedule, reshaped in recent years to accommodate NBA Cup knockout dates, has contributed to a rise in soft-tissue injuries.

Nine days after the story ran, the league responded publicly through its official communications account, calling Hollinger’s premise “inaccurate and misleading.”

“John Hollinger’s premise that the NBA Cup has led to a denser schedule resulting in more player injuries is simply not supported by the data,” league spokesperson Mike Bass said. “The NBA played roughly the same number of games through 42 days this season (308) as last season (307). Those numbers are consistent with pre-Cup years.”

The league also pushed back on the suggestion of an injury spike, saying the number of injuries forcing star players to miss games during the first six weeks is “the lowest in the past six seasons, down more than 25 percent year-over-year.”

Hollinger raised additional concerns that the NBA’s statement did not address. He noted that several teams have been forced into frequent one-game home stands followed by immediate road trips — a travel pattern he believes stems from Cup scheduling rather than the sheer number of games.

The league’s response did not speak to travel load.

The NBA also noted fewer absences among stars but did not specifically address the soft-tissue injuries that Hollinger highlighted, including calf, hamstring and quad issues.

The decision to issue a detailed rebuttal through the league’s public relations platform is unusual. Hollinger joked on Bluesky that it amounted to “a big win for the Streisand Effect,” since most fans had not seen the original article.

If nothing else, the exchange suggests the league remains sensitive to criticism surrounding the NBA Cup. And the schedule adjustments required to make it work.