Adam Silver says the NBA 65-game rule is not going anywhere and the league’s internal data suggests that extended rest might cause more injuries.
The NBA is set to keep its 65-game rule in place for the upcoming season, with commissioner Adam Silver defending the policy and citing league data that challenges common assumptions about player rest.
Speaking about load management, Silver said the NBA has found no evidence that players are more prone to injuries late in the season due to heavy workloads.
"On so-called load management, I think that the only place where we see an uptick in injuries is not towards the end of the season when guys have played more games," Silver said, via The Athletic.
According to Silver, injury rates tend to increase after the All-Star break, a trend the league continues to study.
"The only place we see upticks is after the All-Star break," Silver explained. "Whether it’s just correlation, or it turns out there’s causation, it may be because players are not getting appropriate load during those days they take off."
The 65-game threshold, introduced as part of the NBA's player participation policy, remains a key requirement for major individual awards, including MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and All-NBA selections.
Despite criticism from some players and teams, the league appears committed to maintaining the rule as it continues evaluating the relationship between rest and injury prevention.
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