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Amid the shortest offseason in league history, the NBA has laid out its relaxed resting policies for players in the upcoming 2020-21 season. Per Tim MacMahon of ESPN, the new policies will benefit Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler, who both played up until October.
According to the NBA memo, the new policies will apply to teams playing back-to-back games. Under these circumstances, teams can “rest a key veteran player who played a substantial role on a team that advanced deep into the 2020 Playoffs, or to rest a player who is still returning to full strength after recovering from COVID-19.”
Age, injury history, COVID-19 recovery, season and career workload, and schedule issues are also determining factors that an NBA team can look into if it wants to rest a player.
This is a step back from NBA policy over the last few seasons that prohibited teams from resting their high-profile players in nationally-televised games. Violators could be fined at least $100,000.
James, who'll turn 36 this Dec. 30, has spoken against “load management,” noting that he will play if he's healthy and will sit only when he's not. But with regard to the upcoming NBA season amid a two-month offseason instead of the usual four-month rest, James is taking a different approach.
“I've always listened to my coaches,” James said when asked about load management. “We had the same thing last year. We're going to be as smart as we can be on … making sure that my body, on making sure that I'm ready to go.
“Obviously, every (NBA) game matters, but we're competing for something that's high. We don't ever want to shortchange our stuff. For me personally, that's a fine line with me, but understanding that it's a shortened season. I think it's 71 days that the offseason is going to be, the shortest [offseason] for any professional sport ever.”
The 2020-21 NBA season will kick-off on Dec. 22. Teams will play 72 regular-season games.
