The NBA sent data from an exhaustive study to its teams this week that showed no link between players managing load and a reduced risk of injury.
That was the result of independent research on 10 years of NBA data, where sports medicine leaders took into account the schedule, number of games and the regular season load players typically carry.
For years, some league officials questioned whether players who were consistently rested, even in back-to-back situations, were at any risk of serious injury.
This study seems to support this idea.
The tendency for players, and especially stars, to miss games without a legitimate injury excuse was embarrassing for the league because fans and especially media partners expressed concern and frustration. That was troubling for a league worried about perception and business.
This prompted the league to develop the Player Involvement Policyintended to stir up healthy players in the competition and punish teams that violated the policy guidelines as collectively agreed upon by the league and players association.
Those involved in the study—Dr. John DiFiori, Dr. Christina Mack and Dr. Mackenzie Herzog – they said other issues could be injury factors. Such as: Previous injury history, previous surgery and age.
They also clarified that the report does not insist that load management does not work.
Dr Di Fiori added: “There needs to be a balance between rest and recovery.”
Dr. Mack, head of epidemiology and clinical evidence at IQVIA Injury Surveillance & Analytics, said they “didn’t see a lower injury rate when players were resting.”
The 57-page report highlighted the variation among star players who miss games. From the 1990s to today, the average number of games missed per season by those designated as star players has increased significantly. In the 90s it was 10.6%. In the 2020s, it is 23.9%.
At a certain stage along the way, teams began to beef up their medical and performance staff, to the point where that department carried more weight than the coaching staffs and management when it came to player involvement.
Now, armed with information and data collected from the league, these performance staffs can make decisions that may or may not deviate from what has become the norm.