The NBA has a load management problem, and Stephen A. Smith thinks he might have a way of keeping the league’s stars on the court.
Earlier this week, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr expressed concern about the NBA’s increased pace of play amid an already taxing 82-game schedule, which has led to more player injuries. While Kerr isn’t about to slow the pace, Smith noted that the Warriors’ head coach is essentially calling for fewer games.
But the NBA isn’t about to cut games from its schedule, especially after entering new media rights agreements with ESPN, Amazon, and NBC through the 2035-2036 season. To combat that, Kerr and other head coaches rest their stars for full games throughout the season. And as much as Adam Silver has pushed back on load management, it might only be getting worse, with Yahoo’s Tom Haberstroh reporting NBA stars have already missed more than 200 games this season.
As a counterpoint to Kerr essentially calling for a less condensed regular season schedule, Smith suggested NBA head coaches should play their stars fewer minutes, not fewer games. And to take it a step further, Smith believes the NBA might have to enforce it.
“Why you gotta play guys 35 minutes?” Smith asked on his Wednesday afternoon SiriusXM show on Mad Dog Sports Radio. “Why you gotta play eight guys? Why can’t you play 10 to 11? I’m talking about mandate it.”
“How about this idea ladies and gentlemen, if you’ve got 12 men on a roster, every single night, you gotta find a way to play a minimum of 10 to ensure that the amount of traction and wear and tear on the bodies are minimized,” Smith continued. “How about this one, nobody gets to play more than 33 minutes if we’re gonna do that. Think about that for a second, as crazy as it sounds.”
Although Smith created the idea, he admitted he’s not ready to sign off on it. Smith said he crafted the take as a counterpoint to Kerr, but he’s not about to start campaigning to have the rule change implemented.
The current narrative around the NBA is that fans can’t count on its best and most popular players to be available. While the NBA is searching for a way to make it seem like teams still prioritize the regular season, a per-player minutes restriction probably isn’t it. What happens if there’s overtime, or players really are sidelined with an injury? Imagine if Victor Wembanyama had 60 points in 32 minutes, but couldn’t chase 70 because of a minutes restriction.
The NBA isn’t going to eliminate games or put a minutes restriction on players. But if the NBA ultimately decides that a minutes reduction is the best way to keep its stars on the court, shortened quarters would probably be the less intrusive option.