Has the NBA evolved into a drama show with this new era? The NBA is currently facing a dilemma; teams are allowing star players not to play due to “rest.”
The league landed a new broadcast rights deal with its television partners worth more than $2.6 billion over the next nine years. With star players resting for no reason, it causes a problem for networks when the games are no longer competitive.
Growing up as a fan of the NBA, missing a game was rare and a player would only miss time if he were injured.
What about the fans who pay expensive prices to support their teams? Fans go to games excited to watch their favorite players in action, and then come to find out the team is benching that player for no reason? This causes a stir amongst the fans and the basketball association. Fans begin to be angry with the league and they will become hesitant to buy tickets due to not knowing what games to attend. This will cause the teams to start losing money because of the drop in ticket sales and seats in the arena will be empty.
For example, fans of the NBA were in an uproar when the Golden State Warriors decided to rest a healthy Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green for a nationally televised game against the San Antonio Spurs. Following that game, the Cleveland Cavaliers followed suit by resting LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love against the Los Angeles Clippers. The fans in attendance at the Staples Center started chanting, “We want LeBron.”
When a situation like this comes up, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has no choice but to step in. Silver decided to take action on Monday, sending a memo to owners across the league warning them of “significant penalties” if teams do not follow protocol in this regard. In the memo, Silver informed teams that the issue will be a prime topic of discussion at the next NBA Board of Governors meeting on April 6 in New York and warned of ”significant penalties” for teams that do not abide by the league’s standing rules for providing ”notice to the league office, their opponent and the media immediately upon a determination that a player will not participate in a game due to rest.”
Hall of Famer Karl Malone has also expressed his frustration about teams resting players for no reason.
“If you don’t have at least 10 years experience, your playing,” Malone said. “It’s not work, it’s called playing. Besides, tell our underpaid service members and police and first responders to rest. They can’t.”
Although the players have a good reason to defend themselves by saying that rest is needed, the NBA is afraid of the fact that it may hit its own pocket.
The players and commissioner meeting will be held April 6 and this issue will be the headliner.