Take a look at our top stories in recent days and an obvious pattern emerges.
Kevin Durant, Ja Morant, Zion Williamson, Jordan Hawkins, Miles Bridges and Tyrese Maxey have all been sidelined by injuries that will keep them out of action for multiple weeks.
They join the likes of Kristaps Porzingis, Jaylen Brown, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Lonzo Ball, Aaron Gordon, James Wiseman, Kawhi Leonard, Khris Middleton, Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Jaylin Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Paolo Banchero, Joel Embiid, Jeremy Sochan, Scottie Barnes and Taylor Hendricks among the notable players currently sidelined by injuries. And we’re only into the first few weeks of the season.
This has become the new norm and arguably the biggest issue confronting the NBA. Despite advanced training methods, fewer back-to-backs, load management and rule changes to discourage physical play and flagrant fouls, players keep breaking down.
We’re not talking about football here, where injuries in a contact sport are inevitable. Research past decades and you’ll see that NBA players rarely missed games. Michael Jordan played 80 or more games 11 times. Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant each appeared in 77 or more regular-season games nine times.
So why can’t today’s players stay on the court? The usual excuse is that the game is more wide open and played at a faster pace. Teams spread the floor and defenders have to cover more ground.
Is it time for the NBA to slow the game down and preserve the players’ bodies? No one benefits when stars are on the bench in street clothes.
What changes can be made? The logical way of making it happen is to put limits on 3-point attempts. The league isn’t going to erase the line but it could cap the amount of 3-point attempts per game. Or they could have shots beyond the arc only count for three points at certain times of the game, say the last two or three minutes of each quarter. That would bring back more isolation plays and midrange shooting.
We’ve seen recent rules changes improve the MLB, most notably the pitch clock, which had led to shorter games and less dead time.
That brings up to today’s topic: What steps should the NBA take to address the epidemic of injuries? What kind of rules changes or other methods would you suggest to reduce the amount of missed games?
Please take to the comments section to weigh on this topic. We look forward to your input.
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