Resting players in the NBA has come under serious scrutiny as of late.
Big names like LeBron James and members of the Golden State Warriors have taken a seat lately to rest. Not injury-related rest, just rest because of a long season in an attempt to keep legs fresh for the playoffs.
Patrick Beverley of the Houston Rockets isn’t a fan.
He put it in slightly colorful terms, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com:
“I think that’s bulls—.”
“I could care less about coaches asking players to rest or not. 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.”
A tad dramatic given the situation surrounding guys like LeBron. Especially LeBron, really, seeing as he’s 32 years old and notorious for playing more minutes than anyone.
Beverley’s point means to say resting players isn’t fair to most. But it’s interesting coming from a guy who is 28 years old and has only appeared in more than 60 games in a season once over five years.
Guys like LeBron wouldn’t up and disrespect the game of basketball. This is a strategy to counter a brutal season, which some would suggest is too long and portions of it simply don’t matter. Resting players stinks for the fans, but teams pay players and coaches to win titles. If a strategic rest game accomplishes this pursuit, so be it.
It’s on the league to steer teams away from doing this, which means its on the league to examine its schedule-making process and come up with something better. Until then, claiming a player is disrespecting the sport outright isn’t fairly taking the whole picture into account.
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.
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