NBA, Union Nearing Agreement on ‘Load Management’ Rule

The NBA and players’ union are nearing agreement on a rule designed to curtail players resting unnecessarily, as it has become known, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The “load management” rules would be put in place for the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, Charania noted. 

The rule would state that players must play in a certain number of games during the course of the 82-game regular season to be eligible for major individual awards, per Charania. The exact number of games has yet to be determined, though both the NBA and union reportedly already agree on the idea.

The practice of teams resting star players during games has become an issue for the NBA, especially the players, despite it is not often their own decision to sit out. Such a rule would pressure teams to allow players to play regular-season games when the players are healthy. Given the players’ desire to play, it’s not a surprise they would be in favor of such a directive.

“Top league and players union officials held a Competition Committee meeting on Friday to discuss an issue both sides are jointly motivated on: star players playing in more games, and staying healthy enough so that the NBA can display its best talent on a night-to-night basis,” Charania wrote. “Both sides are in agreement on tying major awards to games played over the course of the season.”

It was the players’ union that approached the league with the idea of a load management rule, Charania added.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver and executive director Tamika Tremaglio helped lead the meeting on the potential rule, with Pelicans guard and union president CJ McCollum and Suns point guard and player rep Chris Paul discussing how teams often are responsible for players resting when healthy, Charania reported.

Talks surrounding tying regular season games played to awards, such as MVP, continued in Friday’s Competition Committee meeting among top NBA and Union officials. Sources described the session as extremely productive and jointly motivated conversations. https://t.co/0BKUBNAkQr https://t.co/yZ2ro1ZcQe

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 13, 2023