In what has become one of the hottest topics in the NBA today, Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson entered the chat with a thoughtful and nuanced take that most have not taken.
With the debate around load management raging, the Hall of Fame point guard appeared to deliver an assist to opponents of the phenomenon, with him telling PEOPLE Magazine that “we didn’t have that when I played.”
“I enjoyed trying to play all the games because I love to play.”
However, while Magic can look at the current state of the league and see how players sitting out for games has negatively impacted the NBA product, he also can't help but acknowledge that protecting the players is good.
Article Continues Below“Things have really changed now because of load management,” says Johnson, “and I think that it’s good to protect the guys, but it also hurts the game.”
Johnson's perspective is akin to that of one of this generations highly popular players in Minnesota Timberwolves wing Anthony Edwards. Like Magic, Ant wants to play in every game he can, a display of passion, professionalism, and humility.
Unfortunately, much of the discourse surrounding the topic can be attributed to people with a fixed mind.
However, the NBPA, owners, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver are working to complete a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that may resolve the issue. While Silver has not considered shortening the season and reducing games to combat the rise in load management cases, he could opt to lengthen the season to reduce the amount of back-to-back games.