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To finish the regular season, the Golden State Warriors decided to stagger some of their veterans in the last two games to close out the regular season because of a back-to-back. The coaching staff opted to rest Klay Thompson April 9 against the San Antonio Spurs and rest Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter on April 10 against the New Orleans Pelicans.
This may be beneficial to players to help limit injuries, but that has come at the cost of fans who pay to come out to watch their favorite players.
Earlier this season, when Steph Curry was sitting out in Denver during a back-to-back, a young Steph Curry fan was upset and cried because her favorite player not only did not play, but did not even make the trip to Denver.
The Warriors did fix the situation. They gave the young girl and her whole family front row seats the next time the Dubs were in Denver, which coincidentally was just days later. Curry personally gave the fan an unforgettable experience when he greeted her before the game.
This is not always the case, as fans usually do not get this lucky when their favorite players miss games they go to. Head coach Steve Kerr talked at length before a win against the Spurs on April 9.
“People pay a lot of money to watch the stars play, but we also know a lot more now about the body,” Kerr said. “We have a lot more information about how to prevent injuries. Every team has got a team of medical people advising us to sit our stars out for 10 games a year.
Kerr is following the medical advice that his best players play in 87.8% of games rather than try to play in all 82 of them. He thinks it would be logical if the NBA just went to a 72-game season instead.
Kerr Would Like to See the NBA Implement a 72-Game Season
Fans and team personnel alike have been harping for the league to shorten the season. The 82-game season has been part of the NBA since the 1967-68 season.
“What makes the most sense is cutting back to maybe a 72-game schedule,” Kerr says. “Take 10 games off and get more time to rest in between games. I think you’ll get buy-in from the teams to play their guys more often.”
Kerr really believes that with more rest days during the season, trainers and coaches would be more willing to use less load management on their star players, thus making regular season games more exciting.
With veterans like Curry getting closer to 35, it is vital for the team to protect him and make sure he is healthy for the postseason. As Kerr says, it just does not make rational sense why the team would have Curry play in so many games that do not matter as much as they do in the postseason.
“I know that, especially as Steph gets older, the thought of even playing him 82 games, it doesn’t make sense because it just wears him down. And by the time the playoffs start, if he’s worn down, what are we doing? Why are we doing this in the first place?”
Kerr Has a Solution for Argument About Loss of Revenue
The reluctance on both the players and owners to shorten the season is mainly due to money being lost. Each game generates revenue through television broadcasts, advertisements, ticket sales, concession sales, etc. Both sides would really need to think about how they can make up the difference elsewhere.
Kerr thinks he may have a solution.
“It would require everybody to understand the financial ramifications,” Kerr says. “But you could argue that if it’s a better product, you’re going to get better media-rights deals, and a 72-game season might result in even more money for the cap anyway. Less from gate receipts, but maybe more from media rights. And in the end, everybody could win.
But that’s just me guessing. I don’t really have any data to back that up. But that would be my preference.”
Commissioner Adam Silver addressed these concerns earlier this week about the resting problem. This is clearly something that will definitely be revisited at the next negotiations between the NBAPA and the owners.
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