Getty Image / Ezra Shaw
Kawhi Leonard sat out against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night making that the second game in a span of eight days he’s skipped out on for rest. For fans and the media, missing out on a matchup between Giannis Antetokounmpo because Leonard wants to rest up for the rest of the season isn’t good.
Load management seems to have taken even more of a spotlight to begin this season and it’s no good for anybody outside of the player getting the rest. Jalen Rose has a take about the load management issue and points to the fans and media for causing this problem, and if we’re being honest, it’s not that bad of a take.
I hate load management. Guess who I blame? Full context at 2pm on @jalenandjacoby. @djacoby @Nba #Espn2 pic.twitter.com/18DCRk8Gic
— Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) November 6, 2019
Rose’s opinion may ruffle some feathers among fans and various media members, but he’s not off.
On one hand, Rose’s point could come across as that since the media and fans don’t care about anything but championships then that’s the mindset the players have adopted as well, full stop.
That idea does have some truth behind it, because if we’re being honest with ourselves unless you’re an absolute die-hard NBA fan you don’t really care about anything but the run your favorite team may make in the playoffs.
If resting your best players in 10-15 games during the regular season means you’re team is going to have a better chance at winning a title, well then that’s not really that bad of a tradeoff.
On the other hand, if Leonard and the Clippers cared about the fans or the NBA as a product then they definitely wouldn’t have rested him against Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. The game was the front-end of a back-to-back, but resting him against the Blazers on Thursday night seems like a better move, but they’ve got to have some sort of explanation behind it.
Players rest because they can and if that player’s team makes a run in the playoffs then you won’t find one fan or media member complaining about it.
***
Mark is a New York City-based writer and editor at BroBible. You can find him on Twitter @MarkAndHisWords.