Fans get upset when a healthy superstar sits out a game for a day of rest, and the NBA apparently plans to do something about it this season.
Next month, the owners are expected to approve rules designed to discourage teams from benching healthy players for regular-season games, USA Today reported on Thursday.
The rules are to be in effect at the start of the 2017-2018 season and teams would be penalized for not abiding by them.
The specifics of the rules and the consequences remain unknown at this point, but enforcing any rules regarding the resting of a healthy player might be difficult.
Earlier this week, the league office announced scheduling improvements designed to provide more rest for players.
Teams are to no longer play four games in five nights and the number of back-to-back games has been reduced. It would require the regular season schedule to start a week earlier.
Commissioner Adam Silver had said that changes might be in store during an April news conference.
“There is an expectation among partners that teams are going to act in appropriate ways [and] find, as I said, that right balance between resting on one hand and obligations to fans and partners on the other,” USA Today reported Silver as saying.
“There is a recognition from teams that on one hand a certain amount of resting is just inevitable and appropriate to keep the players healthy, but that they shouldn’t be resting multiple starters on the same night,” he said.
“And, incidentally, wherever possible, they should rest at home, because there, while I feel for the home fans just as much as the away fans, the away fans may only get a chance to see that team once,” he added.
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