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Tim BontempsESPN
In a memo sent to the teams by the NBA on Monday morning, the league laid out resting policies for the regular season of 2020-21 – including giving significant relief to teams resting in non-national television games, especially at the start of the season.
ESPN The memo obtained by says that flexibility applies to teams playing back-to-back games, and presents examples of possible circumstances, including, To rest in the 2020 playoffs or for a player who is recovering from covid-19. “
That would make it clear to players like Los Angeles Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and Miami hit star Jimmy Butler after the NBA Finals are wrapped up. Only two months later.
Typically, players who reach the NBA Finals in mid-June get four months between that and the season that starts in mid-October.
Speaking to reporters during training camp for the first time on Monday, James said he and the Lakers would be fair about the opening minutes of his season, as the defending champions look set to win a second title.
“I’ve always listened to my coach,” James said when asked about load management. “Last year we had the same thing. We’ll be as smart as we can be … make sure my body is ready for me to go.”
“Obviously, every game is important, but we compete for something high. We never want to shorten our stuff. For me personally, it’s a nice line with me, but understand that it’s a short season. I think it will happen in a few days or so soon [offseason] For any professional sport.
“We’re very sincere about what we’re going to do going forward, as far as I’m concerned personally.”
The Lakers are due to open on December 22nd, the regular season; James will turn 36 on December 30th.
The memo also states that qualifying factors for determining whether players fall under “unusual circumstances” include the player’s age, injury history, COVID-19 recovery, season and career workload and schedule issues – including how recently the team Games played and how many consecutive maze games he has played.
The memo also reinforces the rules surrounding several national television games, saying that “teams” are forbidden to rest healthy players for a high-profile, national-television game. “There will be a fine of at least 100,000.
Also, in the absence of the “unusual circumstances” mentioned above, the memo says that teams should not rest many healthy players in a single game, and healthy players should not rest while playing on the road.
The report was contributed by ESPN’s Dave McMany.
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