The issue of player rest was one of the major concerns for commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA going into this offseason, as the man at the helm was forced to protect the league interests as well as the players’.
While the league saw a record-shattering amount of “did not play-rest” statuses during the regular season, it also saw its healthiest season in more than a decade, according to a comprehensive study by InStreetClothes.com via ESPN.
This was all thanks to an adopted theory of giving players a night off every few games to keep from overworking their joints.
While the league has gotten rid of the four games in five nights and even the five games in seven nights, there’s still bound to be more DNP-rests coming from all around, as it has proven to be a worthy sacrifice for most franchises.
“I’m looking for games where we could sit guys if needed,” one top executive told ESPN on Monday night.
Make no mistake, the biggest change the NBA has made this offseason is securing their national TV matchups and the ratings that will come with it, accommodating teams to have their stars ready to go by those dates, if things pan out according to plan.
This makes the biggest impact on marquee matchups, for example — the Golden State Warriors played four of their five ABC games in a back-to-back last season compared to zero of the six they’ll have in 2017-18. The Cleveland Cavaliers, will only play two of their 27 national TV games on the back end of a back-to-back, a third of their last season total.
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