NBA players are going down left and right with soft tissue injuries and Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr says he’s “concerned” about the trend.
Among the big-name players currently injured are Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid, Zion Williamson Trae Young, Ja Morant, OG Anunoby and former Rutgers star Dylan Harper.
Kerr, who won four NBA titles as the Warriors coach and five as a player with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs, says the uptick in pace in NBA games is the root cause of the injuries.
“I’m very concerned,” Kerr said per Warriors beat writer Anthony Slater. “It’s dramatic, the pace difference is dramatic....
“I think across the league everybody understands now that it’s just easier to score if you can beat the opponent down the floor, get out in transition and when everybody’s doing that, the games are much higher-paced, faster-paced and everybody has to cover out to 25 feet because everybody can shoot threes.
“We have all the data. Players are running faster and further than ever before so we’re trying to do the best we can to protect them, but we have a game basically every other night and it’s not an easy thing to do.”
Kerr said the medical experts backs up his beliefs.
“They believe the wear and tear, the speed, the pace, the mileage is factoring into these injuries,” he said.
Kerr said his team “hasn’t had a single practice” on its current road trip, “so not only is there no recovery time, there’s no practice time.”
Kerr said he might be in favor of cutting the schedule back from 82 games, but it’s tough to do in the business of the NBA.
“The tricky part is all the constituents would have to agree to take less revenue and in 2025 in America good luck in any industry to agree,” he said.
He added: “That’s not happening, we know that.”
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