Other NBA players might defend their right to miss scheduled games in order to minimize the stress being put on their body, but Minnesota Timberwolves star guard Anthony Edwards isn't a fan.
Speaking to reporters at Salt Lake City during the 2023 All-Star Weekend, Anthony says “if there's anything about the league [that] I could change to make it better… Probably just all the guys sittin', restin'.”
“That's the only thing [that] I probably don't like.”
21 years old.
He gets it pic.twitter.com/m7RuWnzjWo
— Jack Borman (@jrborman13) February 19, 2023
But what of the players that are recovering from injury? Or those a season or so removed from a serious injury? Those that are simply getting up there in years?
“Just play man,” Edwards says.
“If you 80 percent, 70 percent, you gotta play.”
A down-to-earth perspective drives Edwards' mentality on the subject, as he recognizes that fans may not be able to afford more than one chance to see a specific team or player live.
“That might be the game they come to and you sittin' out… It might be one fan who has never seen me play and I'm trying to play.”
Its honestly refreshing to hear a player remembering that the fans deserve to see a guy play who can play. After all, the lucrative contracts being passed out like candy nowadays are directly influenced by the attention fans give to players.
Coincidentally, Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving criticized the use of the term ‘load management' on the grounds of it being ‘dehumanizing.' Irving makes a point in that the use of the term has become derogatory when many players are just trying to protect themselves and elongate their careers.
However, as Edwards notes, too many players are using that as a pass to not play when they really can.
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