One topic of conversation that has invaded NBA circles as of late due to the recent absences of Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is the league's new rules surrounding eligibility for end-of-season awards. If Embiid misses only a few more contests, the 76ers star will not be eligible to win his second straight MVP, even if his statistics would suggest that he should be the odds-on favorite.
The rule change was part of an effort from the NBA this past offseason to reduce load management and rest games and incentivize its stars to play more. One person who isn't a huge fan of the idea is former Sacramento Kings star big man DeMarcus Cousins, who recently took to the “Bully Ball Podcast with Rachel and Boogie” to sound off on the rule change.
“I think it’s complete Bull S—. I also think it’s a shift of blame when this is something that was created by the league,” said Couins. “I spoke on it last week when I brought up analytics and how these nerds are f—- up the game. I stand on that statement and the reason is, the analytics are the reason this load management s—- came into the game. They brought load management in because they thought the analytics showed that it would help prevent injury from guys in the league. Well now that rule was manipulated and it was taken advantage of and now they’re trying to put a band-aid over a wound that the league created.”
It appears that the NBA has created a new problem in trying to solve an old one.
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