On Sept. 13, the NBA Board of Governors approved new rules that will make it harder for teams to utilize load management. New resting policy rules will make it less likely for star players to sit out during nationally televised games and in-season tournament games. Teams with multiple stars will also not freely be allowed to rest said players together in regular season matchups.

If resting policy rules are violated, teams can be fined by the league office. A “star” player is being defined as a player who has been selected as an All-Star or All-NBA team member in any of the last three seasons. Twenty-six teams and 49 players will be impacted by the new rules that are meant to stifle load management across the league. Load management is a term used for when teams rest players not because of injury but as a way to keep them fresh for future games. With such drastic changes being implemented, we decided to look at who is most heavily affected by the rule changes. Here are the teams with players designated as stars that are impacted by the new NBA resting policies.

Teams with four “stars”

Golden State Warriors: Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Chris Paul

Minnesota Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mike Conley

Teams with three “stars”

Chicago Bulls: DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic

Cleveland Cavaliers: Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen

Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton

Phoenix Suns: Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal

Teams with two “stars”

Boston Celtics: Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown

Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid, James Harden

Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young, Dejounte Murray

Miami Heat: Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler

Los Angeles Clippers: Paul George, Kawhi Leonard

Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James, Anthony Davis

Sacramento Kings: Domantas Sabonis, De'Aaron Fox

Dallas Mavericks: Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic

Memphis Grizzlies: Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr.

Teams with one “star”

Brooklyn Nets: Ben Simmons

New York Knicks: Julius Randle

Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam

Indiana Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton

Charlotte Hornets: LaMelo Ball

Denver Nuggets: Nikola Jokic

Oklahoma City Thunder: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Portland Trailblazers: Damian Lillard

Utah Jazz: Lauri Markkanen

Houston Rockets: Fred VanVleet

New Orleans Pelicans: Zion Williamson

Teams without a “star”

Detroit Pistons

Orlando Magic

Washington Wizards

San Antonio Spurs

NBA resting policy rules

The league is implementing a fine system for teams violating the new rules. First offenses will cost the team $100,000, $250,000 for the second offense, and each additional penalty will cost $1 million more than the previous fine.

In addition to healthy stars not being allowed to miss in-season tournament games, nationally televised games, or resting on games with another star, there are numerous other resting policy rules that the league is implementing.

Teams must also refrain from reducing star's roles or shutting them down long-term when the integrity of the game is at stake. The Wizards and Trailblazers' late-season shutdowns last year of Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard, respectively, would have qualified under this rule.

Stars must also keep a balance between home and road game rest days, with the league preferring players to miss home games. Lastly, healthy players resting in games must be present at the game and visible to fans.

There are ways to get exceptions to these rules. NBA teams can get approval to rest veterans who meet the criteria of being 35 years old on opening night or have 34,000 plus regular season minutes to their name or 1,000 combined regular and postseason games played.

Teams can also seek approval to rest a player on one occasion on the back half of a back-to-back if that star has an injury history. If a team feels a star can't play in one of these required games, the team must notify the league at least a week prior to the game.

Load management

Only four teams don't have a “star” player, meaning the vast majority of the league will be hugely affected by the new rules. The NBA has been searching for a way to limit load management and to encourage the league's best players to be on the court. This was the solution they came up with.

Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs, as well as his protégée Steve Kerr and his Golden State Warriors, have been notorious for using load management in order to rest their stars for bigger games. While the Spurs are one of the teams without a designated star, the Warriors are one of two teams with four stars. The Spurs made Victor Wembanyama the first overall pick in the 2023 draft. As one of the best prospects ever, many think he is destined to be a star, but because he hasn't been named an NBA All-Star or All-NBA team selection in the past three years (he is entering his rookie year), he doesn't count as a star by the league's definition.

Implications from the new resting policies

The Warriors have won four championships in the Curry era and have used load management to counter the effects of an aging roster. They won't be able to get away with it as easily now because of their four star players. This includes Chris Paul, who will be in his age 38 season. Steph Curry is 35, while Draymond Green is 33. Klay Thompson (33) doesn't qualify as a star because he hasn't made an All-Star team/All-NBA team since 2019.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are the other team with four stars. Minnesota somewhat got the short end of the stick here. While Anthony Edwards is one of the blossoming youngsters in the game, Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert are likely both past their primes. Conley last made the All-Star game in 2021 and is unlikely to reach the event again, yet he still qualifies as a star since that All-Star appearance was three seasons ago.

The reigning champion Denver Nuggets won't be as affected by the new rules as many other contenders. They have a deep team, yet only two-time MVP Nikola Jokic has made an All-Star/All-NBA team over the last three years. This will allow them to rest Jamal Murray on back-to-back games, something they often did last year. Jamal Murray suffered a torn ACL on April 12, 2021.

Some of the NBA teams most impacted by the new resting policies will be the two teams in Los Angeles. Both the Clippers and Lakers have injury-prone and aging superstars. Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis perhaps won't be able to rest as much as the teams would have liked because of the new rules.