LeBron James has championed the players resting angle as of late.
For good reason—Monday against the San Antonio Spurs, James took an elbow to the spine.
But no, he isn’t going to sit out when the Cleveland Cavaliers next take the floor, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com: “I’ll be ready by Thursday.”
Still, his injury scare illustrates why teams have made a point to rest players late in the season this year as the playoffs approach. The Cavaliers are going through a rough patch, but it’s certainly better than entering the postseason fatigued or without a star player thanks to injury.
As we noted Monday, some players have taken a different approach to the issue of rest, Patrick Beverley of the Houston Rockets, per MacMahon: “It’s up to you to play or not, and if you don’t, you’re disrespecting the game. And I don’t believe in disrespecting the game, because there was a time where I wasn’t playing in the NBA and I was trying to get here. So me resting, I feel like, is disrespecting me, disrespecting the name on the front of the jersey and disrespecting the name on the back of the jersey.”
The Cavaliers need all the help they can get to keep a grip on the Eastern Conference. Rest dates, especially after back to backs, were aimed at helping during this key stretch.
Slight injury issue aside, the situation around James and injured stars like Kevin Durant points to the NBA needing to take a serious look at how it constructs the schedule.
About Chris Roling
Chris is an Ohio University E.W. Scripps School of Journalism graduate and associate editor here at TSD. He also covers breaking news and the NFL at Bleacher Report and resides in Athens (OH) with his wife and two dogs.
Email
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
