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[av_heading heading=’ FEEL THE GAME BOBBY MOTUS’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
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THE excitement and anticipation gathers momentum when our favorite team and its star players go head-to-head with an equally high-profile team. Yet time and again, we get frustrated when, for some ridiculous reason, team officials decide to rest their stars, thus depriving fans of seeing their basketball idols in action. On the stat sheets, they’re DNP: Did Not Play.
Many times we had seen supposedly marquee matchups without the marquee names. It’s not about which team prevailed but how the respective stars of both teams played. These people are paid to play and, unless something really valid prevents them, they should be in their uniforms on the basketball court every playing night.
Remember some time the previous season when Golden State rested Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Igoudala, and Draymond Green in their game against San Antonio. The following week, Cleveland lost to the LA Clippers by 30 points because their big three of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were also rested.
The fans pay hard-earned money to see their favorites on the court, and they deserve to see them play, not on the bench in street clothes gnawing on their fingernails. To most fans, it’s a disservice and a disappointment.
There is a proposed rule by the NBA competition committee that allows NBA commissioner Adam Silver to sanction teams who make their players unavailable without probable cause. This would discourage teams from resting their star players during important games.
To further prevent this, the preseason games were shortened and the 2017-2018 NBA season will have an early start. An extra week was added to the regular season to adjust the number of back-to-back games, thus giving players some time for a breather.
Silver described the practice as “an extremely significant issue for our league” and warned of “significant penalties” for erring teams. He admitted though that there’s no easy solution to the problem and understands the concerns of the fans, “who turn out, whether they buy tickets to games or watch games on TV, and don’t see their favorite player on the floor.”
On the flipside of the coin, team owners are also protecting their investments. Considering last season, teams were obligated to play four games in five nights and had to contend with cross-country flights. Coach Steve Kerr defended the resting of his four stars, saying that the Warriors played eight games in eight cities in a span of 13 days. Indeed, the NBA is a long season, with 82 regular season games, and for Cleveland and Golden State, an addition of at least 10 games in the postseason. With fatigue, injury is just one step away, and owners would rather not risk losing their players for long periods. Greats of the game were never heard to complain of fatigue and one famously played with flu.
Teams are required by the NBA to provide “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.” We hope we won’t be seeing much of the DNPs this time./PN
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