NBA to introduce rule regulating star players' load management / News - Basketnews.com

The NBA is planning to impose strict rules on teams that choose more than one star player on the same night during the regular season

Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports Credit Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA Board of Governors plans to vote this week on how to address the growing problem of load management during the regular season.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the league's Competition Committee has recommended stricter guidelines on resting players for national television games and multiple stars together in the same games. The Board of Governors is expected to vote Wednesday to pass the measures.

The league would introduce a steep fine structure that punishes teams who rest multiple stars on the same night during the regular season.

Under new rules, teams would be fined $100K for a first violation, $250K for a second violation, and $1 million more than the previous penalty for each additional violation, Wojnarowski added.

According to current discussions, the league defines a 'star' as any player who's made an All-Star or All-NBA team in the past three seasons. It is unclear how the policy would affect teams like the Phoenix Suns and the Warriors, who have three or more top starters. Some teams, like the New Orleans Pelicans, would not have any players that qualify under those conditions.

This isn't the NBA's first attempt to fix the growing issues or resting key players. Since September 2017, the league has instituted rules that would fine teams who rested healthy players during national broadcasts or road games. However, the NBA was forced to relax its standards during the COVID pandemic with a highly condensed schedule and more players missing games due to illness and out of precaution.

The NBA has most recently instituted a 65-game minimum players must hit to qualify for season-ending awards. As the league is seeking to increase its TV revenue, rules regulating load management are expected to get tougher.

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