Adam Silver expects NBA to govern resting players
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expects the NBA to combat the problem of teams resting star players.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver tightened the screws Friday on NBA teams that rest multiple starters on the same night. On the NBA on ESPN Radio pregame show, Silver told Mark Stein that next season there could be league-wide rules that would govern player rest.
Pregame on the @NBAonESPNRadio, Commissioner Adam Silver tells me he expects league guidelines in place next season to govern player rest.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 10, 2017
Fans got a brief glimpse into what the rule would actually look like later in the interview. Silver went on to tell Stein that the rules could focus around ” home-games-only rest” and hopefully prevent resting “multiple starters on the same night”.
Adam Silver tells me the guidelines "will strongly recommend" home-games-only rest AND prevent resting "multiple starters on the same night"
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 10, 2017
This remains one of the most controversial issues facing the league moving forward. The rising popularity of league doesn’t face many obstacles, this is clearly one of them. The NBA has always been a star-driven league going back to Magic and Bird. When an opposing team has a superstar on the team who is a must see for opposing fans, that team announcing they’re resting that player the day of the game is a severe negative for fans attending to simply see the star. It creates a certain level of hostility between the fans and teams that shouldn’t be present.
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The best case for this rule being helpful is the Cavaliers and the Warriors. If you pay higher than average prices for tickets to see the Warriors when they come to town, you want the full experience. Having Steve Kerr announce that Steph Curry and Kevin Durant are resting is horrible for the advancement of the game.
This is a difficult dilemma that Adam Silver and league officials have to combat. How can you effectively battle the problem without hamstringing teams that need to rest their players? Thus far, Silver has yet to do anything wrong in most fan’s eyes. This is an important issue for the commissioner.