Former Utah Jazz superstar John Stockton missed just 22 games over his 19 NBA seasons, and he is not a fan of load management in the National Basketball Association.
When asked if load management is a big issue for the league, especially with stars taking games off, Stockton didn't mince his words.
“I do think it's an [issue] for the league,” Stockton said on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “I went to a Major League Baseball once game to watch one player, I won't embarass him now, and he took a day off. And my opinion of him, my opinion of the team, my opinion of baseball all dropped in a blink.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver pushed back on the notion that load management is a problem ahead of the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, saying “I don't buy into” the idea that players should simply just be playing more, per ESPN.
But Stockton does not agree that the issue isn't plaguing the game.
“I'm never gonna let that happen. Kids will travel [to watch], I knew a young man who lost his life to watch a Jazz game, got in a car accident on the way down,” Stockton explained.
“When you realize people spend their money, spend their time, and they risk a lot of things to watch you come play that night, and you take a night off, I just don't think that's OK.”
“I just don’t think that’s ok”
John Stockton, not surprisingly after missing only 22 games in 19 seasons, is not a fan of load management@termineradio | @SamMitchellNBA pic.twitter.com/rX6bRY5wi3
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) February 21, 2023
The 60-year-old is one of the greatest point guards of all time, and maybe the greatest to never win an NBA Championship, and he was also incredibly durable throughout his 19-year career.
The Utah Jazz made the playoffs in each of John Stockton's 19 seasons, and led the franchise to its only two NBA Finals appearances along with Karl Malone, both which were lost to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
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