The NBA’s Board of Governors voted on Wednesday to approve new rules that will strengthen the league’s policy on resting players and will subject teams to fines for violating those rules, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The vote was unanimous, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
We briefly outlined these new rules on Monday when word initially broke that the NBA was planning to implement them. However, in an article worth reading in full, ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who refers to the new rules as the “player participation policy,” provides a far more in-depth look at how exactly that new policy will function.
As Marks outlines, an NBA team will be subject to a fine if it rests a healthy “star” (defined as a player who has made an All-Star or All-NBA team during the previous three seasons) in any of the following scenarios:
- If it rests a star player in a game that is nationally televised or in an in-season tournament game.
- If it rests more than one star is in the same game.
- If it rests a star in a road game instead of a home game (teams must maintain a balance between the two, with the preference being for rest days to occur in home games).
- If it shuts down a healthy star for an extended period of time (ie. if a tanking team stops playing one if its star players down the stretch).
- If a star who is being rested is not on the bench and visible to fans.
A team will be fined $100K for its first violation of this policy, $250K for its second violation, and $1.25MM for a third violation, per Marks. Fines for additional violations would continue to increase by $1MM in each instance.
The NBA will permit certain exceptions, as Marks outlines, particularly in back-to-back scenarios. If a player meets certain age/experience benchmarks (35 years old on opening night; 34,000+ career regular minutes; or 1,000 career regular season and playoff games) or has an injury history that will require load management, a team can ask the league for permission to rest that player for one of the two games in a back-to-back set.
The NBA would still require the star player to be active for the nationally televised or in-season tournament game in this scenario, unless both games in the back-to-back are on national TV.
Absences for personal reasons or certain other unusual circumstances will also be permitted, per Marks. End-of-season flexibility is another exception worth noting — for example, a team that has clinched its playoff seed may receive approval to rest more than one star in its regular season finale.
The NBA will have the ability to launch an investigation and conduct an independent medical review if it suspects a team is listing a healthy star player out due to a dubious injury. For instance, if the new policy had been in place last season when the Wizards shut down Bradley Beal for the last 10 games of last season due to “knee soreness,” the league may have looked into that, Marks explains.
The league also has the right to investigate in other scenarios, such as recurring one-game road absences for a star player or a case where there are inconsistent public statements about a star’s status.
The list of which players qualify as “stars” will constantly be changing as new All-Star and All-NBA teams are announced, but here are the players who meet the criteria entering the 2023/24 season, per Marks:
- Trae Young (Hawks)
- Dejounte Murray (Hawks)
- Ben Simmons (Nets)
- Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
- Jaylen Brown (Celtics)
- LaMelo Ball (Hornets)
- DeMar DeRozan (Bulls) *
- Zach LaVine (Bulls)
- Nikola Vucevic (Bulls)
- Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers)
- Jarrett Allen (Cavaliers)
- Darius Garland (Cavaliers)
- Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
- Kyrie Irving (Mavericks)
- Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
- Stephen Curry (Warriors) *
- Draymond Green (Warriors)
- Andrew Wiggins (Warriors)
- Chris Paul (Warriors) *
- Fred VanVleet (Rockets)
- Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers)
- Kawhi Leonard (Clippers)
- Paul George (Clippers)
- LeBron James (Lakers) *
- Anthony Davis (Lakers)
- Ja Morant (Grizzlies)
- Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies)
- Jimmy Butler (Heat)
- Bam Adebayo (Heat)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Jrue Holiday (Bucks)
- Khris Middleton (Bucks)
- Rudy Gobert (Timberwolves)
- Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves)
- Mike Conley (Timberwolves) *
- Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves)
- Zion Williamson (Pelicans)
- Julius Randle (Knicks)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
- Joel Embiid (Sixers)
- James Harden (Sixers) *
- Bradley Beal (Suns)
- Devin Booker (Suns)
- Kevin Durant (Suns) *
- Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)
- Domantas Sabonis (Kings)
- De’Aaron Fox (Kings)
- Pascal Siakam (Raptors)
- Lauri Markkanen (Jazz)
Note: The players marked with an asterisk (*) will either be 35 years old on opening night or have accumulated 34,000+ career regular minutes or 1,000 career regular season and playoff games, making them potentially eligible for pre-approved rest nights on back-to-backs.
The NBA has officially released the full policy right here.
So, basically everyone we thought initially would fall into the category of “you can’t do that anymore” is still going to be able to do it (cough kawhi cough) because of age, injury history and/or accumulated career playing time.
Congrats to the league for negating the rule with all the exceptions to it.
Kinda swiss-cheesed their own rule, there. Though people thought much the same with the shift ban in MLB, and that’s worked out well, so we’ll see. I’m skeptical.
“If it rests a star in a road game instead of a home game (teams must maintain a balance between the two, with the preference being for rest days to occur in home games).”
This part of the rule is stupid. Home fans should be the priority when it comes to seeing their team’s own star players.
I guess the thinking is “on the home floor you’ve got better access to team therapists and medical”, but it’s still a weird rule without much justification.
I bet it’s the fact that fans generally have only one or two chances per season to see the stars on visiting teams.
Oh, duh. That would make much more sense.
Eh, no biggie! I enjoy reading and considering your observations.
To me it makes sense. Imagine living in Toronto and being a huge fan of KAT, you only can see him once a year. If he’s rested then, you have to wait for a whole season, whereas if you live in Minnesota you’re gonna have plenty of chances to see him
How in the heck can this be enforced? Every player in the league has lingering knee or ankle ailments by the time they’re 23, it’s the price you pay for your dedication to the game. What’s to stop any team from saying “this star has an ankle sprain” or “this other guy hyperextended his knee”?
They would probably be asked to get a second opinion from a non-team doctor in that case, if the NBA suspects something. At least some kind of proof.
That’s how the usage of the 7 and 10 day IL is enforced in MLB, because the league had a lot of problems with teams trying to use it to shuffle relievers around without using their minor league options, instead of losing some of their bench depth in favor of an extra arm.
Go ahead, show me how you prove a lower lumbar strain.
Find something better to do than stalking my posts and trying to treat me like an idiot. And maybe learn to read.
Won’t work most likely, but at least they’re trying. Not like I have any better ideas that both the league and NBPA would go for.
Haha, Silver is about to tank the league. I give it 2, maybe 3 years before things start falling off the cliff.
Specifically to this joke of a policy, all it will take us a star going down with a major injury in a national televised game to end it.
These are good thoughts, but teams will still find ways to rest players and not pay the fines. If/when a star forces a trade then that player will get a random injury and won’t play to keep their trade value up. That still ruins vacations for anyone that plans to go see a matchup when that disgruntled star doesn’t play until they’re traded.
These might be the dumbest rules a professional sports league has ever promulgated. The NBA had most of the top 10 coming in.
At least they gave me a good laugh along with a reminder of just how clueless Silver truly is. Has any other professional league in a team sport ever sought to officially define a “star”? Define “rest” vs all the other reasons a guy might not be playing some or all of a game? Why not?
I like how they specifically mention that if a player IS held out for rest, he must be on the bench/visible to the fans. Why does that matter? Like, I’m gonna be bummed hearing on my drive to a game that [insert star player’s name here] isn’t playing, but then remember..OOH, HE’LL BE ON THE BENCH IN STREET CLOTHES, HURRAY!
Because a lot of fans still want to take pictures and post them on social media and say they “saw” someone. Not everyone who attends an NBA game likes or even cares about basketball. It’s part of the business model.
Pretty much says it all, and where the league is heading. Basketball is secondary; the constituency that cares about that is shrinking every year. The soap opera and the red carpet are the draws. If Silver could be assured that the “stars” would be introduced with the starters before every game, then he wouldn’t care if they ever played.
I think star players should play all the road games, my 11 years old grandson is a hugh fan of Stephen Curry and when the Golden State Warriors came to Orlando and after we spent over $600 in tickets just to see Steph he was resting that day, my grandson was very sad because Steph didn’t play. The home fans have 42 games to see their star players.