The NBA has a load management issue that Commissioner Adam Silver has not addressed

The Battle of La La Land continues Thursday night when the Clippers take on the Lakers for the first time this season. This has been a critical matchup in the NBA recently, especially in Los Angeles. But reports have already surfaced this Clippers star Kawhi Leonardreturning from a cruciate ligament rupture that forced him to miss all of last year could come off the bench at the start of the season to ‘manage’ his minutes.

That’s not a problem as many players returning from more serious injuries have a minute limit when they return to action. But let’s be honest for a second. We know where this will lead. Leonard was the poster child of load management and once played for the poster child of load management, the San Antonio Spurs. But hey, if you can get away with it then do what you have to do. I don’t blame Leonard for doing what he’s been allowed to do for years.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver comes out every year and talks about managing player records, but nothing has changed. We hear constantly that today’s athletes in the NBA are so much bigger, faster, stronger and more skilled. Still, no one seems to care about playing an entire 82-game plan.

To be fair, not every gamer is, but load management usually comes with star gamers having the opportunity and freedom to pick and choose as they play. But that’s what the fans see – the stars of the NBA. A shortened NBA season has been thrown around in recent years, and Commissioner Silver addressed that over the summer.

“I don’t want to cut the season short, but it’s a conversation we should all have,” Silver said accepted. “What is optimal in terms of a number of games on a player’s body? let’s be

realistic about it.”

Sure, it’s a conversation that needs to happen, but unless the NBA can continue to get the same money from its TV partners, it’s not going to happen anytime soon. Pro sport is still a business and the federation is just trying to make a few billion dollars like everyone else. I think the Commissioner wants to abolish load management, but we’ve gotten so far that it’s going to be difficult.

A few years ago, the league added the play-in tournament as a purgatory-like setup between the actual playoffs and moving into Cancun in April. So far the play-in has provided some exciting moments, like LeBron James versus Stephen Curry two tournaments ago, but it’s nothing more than a money grab. Play-in teams have little hope of progressing past the first round once in the playoffs.

Now the NBA is looking into adding one mid season tournament in addition to making the play-in a mainstay. Another attempt to generate more revenue is fine, but none of this seems to incentivize players to play more. Even cutting 10 games off the regular season schedule and adding this tournament doesn’t create much recovery time. It depends on how many teams are in that tournament, although it sounds like a band-aid with dollar signs all over it.

Silver and the league office have no idea how to approach this load management issue. The bottom line is that he’s let it happen for far too long, and now it’s almost impossible to turn back. I don’t see the NBA reducing the regular season schedule by more than 12-15 games. You would lose too much money doing this. But you can’t talk about taking away a few games just to add a tournament into the season like these guys are back in college or high school.

For PR purposes, Silver may have to speak out publicly and crack down. In reality, anyone who follows this league closely knows who runs it. It’s not called the Players’ League for nothing. As Robert Sarver accused of using stereotypical slurs against almost every minority group in America, Silver acted like there was little to “nothing” he could do. Players had to speak up, and that got the ball rolling. Now Sarver is on his way out. In 2014, players threatened to boycott a recording of Donald Sterling leakedin which Sterling said he didn’t want his girlfriend bringing black people to games before Silver banned him and forced him to sell the Clippers.

In this situation, however, Silver must stand on its own two feet to find a way to free the league from load management. Players want this and many have made it a regular part of their training schedule throughout the season. Although it’s not just the players. Many teams seem to encourage it, taking a page out of the San Antonio Spurs playbook.

Silver has shared his thoughts on the origins of the strain administration:

“Also for our fans, there’s nothing more frustrating than honestly having players who don’t get injured on a program schedule to rest. I look at [Spurs executive] RC [Buford], you started it all. At least that’s not clear to me. Whether it serves a useful purpose. So find a way to create that right healthy balance.”

Silver knows the deal, and he knows that coaches, managers and owners are just as much to blame as the players. If the commissioner really wants to prevent that, he probably could. If he cares about making the fans enjoy the game, he’ll step up to the plate and fix things. Otherwise, it’s time to stop talking and accept this as the reality of the league.