NBA Tells Coaches That Load Management Doesn’t Work

The NBA has faced declining ratings in recent years, thanks in large part to the league's embrace of far left politics.

READ: NBA FINALS RATINGS SHOWS LEAGUE’S DECLINE FOR EMBRACING WOKE

But it's also abundantly clear that many fans have tuned out because they know not to expect to actually see star players playing. And the NBA is desperately trying to get those fans back.

Load management has become one of the key debates in professional basketball, as coaches and key players have defended it even as fans become increasingly frustrated. According to a report from The Athletic, Joe Dumars, the league's vice president for basketball operations, joined a coaches meeting to discuss study results on how effective it actually is at preventing injuries.

And turns out, according to the research, it doesn't actually work.

“It just doesn’t show that resting, sending guys out, correlates with lack of injuries, or fatigue or anything like that,” Dumars said, according to The Athletic.

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 22: LeBron James (6) of the Los Angeles Lakers stands on the court during the second quarter agains the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals game 4 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Monday, May 22, 2023. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

Will NBA Actually See Load Management Changes Going Forward?

Coaches seemed to have mixed reactions to the report, with one anonymous coach telling The Athletic that "it's just PR," and “There are plenty of other studies that prove load management makes sense from an injury and recovery standpoint.” 

The league is aware of just how bad it looks that star players are frequently on the bench during nationally televised games.

“We don’t need our TV partners to tell us that when teams sit players and when players don’t try at an All-Star Game that makes for worse competition,” Evan Wasch, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball strategy said. “It’s incredibly obvious to us, and ultimately we’re trying to serve fans. Yes, it’s the case that because we’re negotiating TV deals in the next year or two here, it takes on even greater importance because we’re in the middle of those conversations.

So some are skeptical of Dumars' remarks, saying the NBA is trying to encourage teams and players ahead of TV negotiations. But others apparently said they'd "love" to have players return to a more old-school mentality.

Whether or not the research actually changes things remains to be seen, but the league's attempt to win fans back is an uphill battle regardless. They alienated a huge portion of the country with woke politics. It's hard to see how they get those viewers back, regardless of how often LeBron James is playing.