Portland Trail Blazers superstar point guard Damian Lillard says players should stop playing so many pickup games during the summer so they don't have to sit out games during the regular season.
Load management has taken over the NBA, but Lillard says guys wouldn't have to sit out games if they manage their summer breaks better:
“I don't play pickup all summer,” Blazers star Damian Lillard told Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report. “That's where players could start off with their load management. You see all these tapes with guys playing in pro-ams and pickup games, and then we get to the season and it's load management. I know it's a long season. I play a lot of minutes. There's a lot expected of me. So it's my responsibility to take that into consideration with my training and what I'm doing.
“I work out. I box. I swim. I lift. … I start playing pickup with the team right before camp.”
Before the season started, Lillard said he wouldn't be load managed by the Blazers. Portland can't even afford to load manage Lillard anyway. The Blazers are only 15-22 on the season after reaching the Western Conference Finals last season. Luckily, Portland is still just a game out of the No. 8 seed in the West.
In 35 games this season for the Blazers, Lillard is averaging 27.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 7.6 assists. The four-time All-Star is shooting 44.2 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from beyond the arc and 88.8 percent from the free-throw line.
Damian Lillard and the Blazers face the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night.
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