{"id":186026,"date":"2023-01-14T00:13:06","date_gmt":"2023-01-14T00:13:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/does-the-nba-have-a-load-management-problem-nba-fact-or-fiction-2\/"},"modified":"2023-01-14T00:13:06","modified_gmt":"2023-01-14T00:13:06","slug":"does-the-nba-have-a-load-management-problem-nba-fact-or-fiction-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/does-the-nba-have-a-load-management-problem-nba-fact-or-fiction-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Does the NBA have a load management problem? NBA Fact or Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Each week during the 2022-23 NBA season, we will take a deeper dive into some of the league’s biggest storylines in an attempt to determine whether the trends are based more in fact or fiction moving forward.<\/em><\/p>\n

[Last time on Fact or Fiction: <\/em><\/strong>Have the Los Angeles Lakers failed LeBron James?<\/em><\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The NBA’s grueling schedule comes at a cost to players and fans<\/h2>\n

The NBA has never been richer with high-end talent than it is now, and the product can be a remarkable one when the best players are sharing the court together. Problem is, you never know who you are going to see during the regular season, and the gamble for fans trying to attend these games is costlier than ever.<\/p>\n

Advancements in sports science have helped players enjoy longer careers. Load management and longer rehabilitation times are employed as safeguards against injuries and re-injury, respectively. Unfortunately, we cannot eliminate either entirely, so the regular season has become a high-wire act of managing existing injuries and trying to prevent future ones. What gets lost in between is the fan’s gambit, even if the ultimate goal is to ensure the roster is as healthy as possible entering the playoffs in its pursuit of a championship.<\/p>\n

Take the Los Angeles Clippers, for example. They are one of six teams in the Western Conference with a winning record, currently in position for a guaranteed playoff spot, owners of the league’s sixth-best title odds, according to BetMGM. They are a container in theory and a MASH unit in practice. Eighteen months removed from ACL surgery, Kawhi Leonard has missed more games than he has played this season, mostly managing that right knee. Paul George has missed 13 games to soreness in his right knee and hamstring.<\/p>\n

The Clippers have played six nationally televised games this season. Leonard missed the first four, and George sat the middle two. When they managed to get them both on the floor for a rare two-game slate full of stars on this year’s Thursday debut of NBA on TNT, they may as well have been shelved. Leonard rested each game surrounding it, and George has not played since. Both played fewer than 20 minutes facing a blowout loss in what was supposed to be a measuring-stick game against Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets.<\/p>\n