NBA will implement a stringent new guideline to limit "load management" for great players
On Wednesday, the NBA Board of Governors approved a new "Player Participation Policy" (PPP) to address the emergence of "load management" and guarantee that the game's top players play every game.
The new regulations, which have taken the place of the Player Resting Policy (PRP) that was first announced in 2017, are "intended to promote player participation in the NBA's full 82-game regular season" and prohibit teams from load managing by resting more than one "star" player on any given night.
Any person who has been selected to the All-NBA or All-Star teams in any of the preceding three seasons is considered a star player according to the PPP.
According to these new rules, 49 players from 26 different teams are considered stars. However, this regulation will only apply to the 15 teams who have numerous star players.
But the PPP, which is only concerned with superstar players, doesn't end here. Additionally, it mandates that all qualified, healthy players participate in the new in-season tournament that will start in early November, as well as all nationally televised games.
Additionally, teams must "maintain a balance between the number of star player one-game absences for road games and the number of star player one-game absences for home games, with a preference under the Policy for such absences to occur in home games."The PPP's third component, which was also featured in the PRP, is that healthy players who miss games for rest are still expected to be present and visible to fans.
If any of these regulations are proven to have been broken, teams will be fined $100,000. A $250,000 fine would be assessed for the second infraction and $1.25 million for the third. A team would be punished $1 million more than its previous punishment for any additional infractions.
In addition to injuries and personal matters, exceptions to the rules must be submitted to the NBA one week in advance and will be based on a player's age, number of career minutes played, and injury history.