“Hear me out! Load management was not created by the players”: Richard Jefferson rants on ‘Load Management’
The idea of load management, which was introduced to the NBA a decade ago with the goal of maintaining athletes' bodies, has now taken on so many meanings that it is now difficult to understand team ideologies or player viewpoints towards recovery and rest. According to former NBA player Richard Jefferson, there are players who decondition themselves, which hinders them from playing all 82 games.
Jefferson is known to be a consistently available player for any team that he's played for. RJ played 82 games during his career, spread among four different occasions. The ability to play all 82 games is now quite unusual.
On NBA Today, RJ went on a rant, calling out players who outright decondition themselves. He avoided mentioning any names, yet his message was nonetheless powerful.
"There are player that are actively deconditioning themselves, making it harder to do 82 games," Jefferson said.
"The load management was not created by players. Hear me out! Load management was not created by the players! It was created by teams, training staff and even some coaches, we'll give Gregg Popovich some of the credit for this. They are giving players days off, time off that truly isn't needed and it allows them to decondition themselves."
NBA players today do not hesitate in letting the public know that they won't be playing certain games. This became a trend after the San Antonio Spurs started this practice to help prolong the careers of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. Since then, other teams have followed suit.
Random Memory;
Gregg Popovich being fined 25K for sitting Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Danny Green, & Manu Ginobili for a highly anticipated matchup against the Miami Heat, on TNT.
The Spurs organization was also fined 250K for this.
Pop doesn’t care about viewers 🐐 https://t.co/PcnsW6m2IG
18-time All-Star LeBron James has also sat out a few games in the past season to allow his body to rest. This practice usually affects fans who have traveled from all over the world to see their favorite players play only to find them on the bench.
Also read: Chris Paul injury: What injury did the Phoenix Suns star have and when does he intend to make his return
Load management has brought disappointment to fans
According to Stephen A. Smith, load management is "an insult" to paying customers. He went on a rant to express how he wasn't in agreement with the said practice.
"These people are not getting in the arena for free. They're coming to the arena -- they're paying their hard-earned money!" Smith said.
Smith also took his chance to recognize how the great Michael Jordan did not sit out irrelevant games, such as playing against expansion teams.
"Michael Jordan recognized the importance of Michael Jordan, and what it meant for him to be a headline."
Also read: “I would probably shorten the season, play 70 games” - Charles Barkley believes NBA could reap more profit if the season starts post-Christmas