Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

rye_domaine t1_j0kx7um wrote

Holy crap, getting fined because you won't play the players the league wants you to play? That's utterly ridiculous

294

brett1081 t1_j0l57d4 wrote

This is an entertainment business. The Spurs and Pop have been in the crosshairs for this as well. They are trying to sell tickets.

Honestly I think they need less games or a longer season window. But that will never happen.

172

timothythefirst t1_j0lgjxl wrote

Nah dudes need to just play if they aren’t actually injured. They just extended the season window a few years ago so there’s already way less back to backs than there used to be. These dudes are making millions of dollars playing a game because of the fans.

I bought tickets last year when the warriors came to Detroit because I’ve wanted to see Steph and klay play for years and Steph was on one of the best stretches of his career leading up to that game. Then not even an hour and a half before game time the warriors announced Steph klay and Draymond were all out for rest. They play at Detroit once a year. Im a grown man so it’s whatever I had a few beers with my friends and still enjoyed the game but I’m sure there was tons little kids there that day who wanted to see their favorite players and families who spent a nice chunk of cash on tickets. It’s bullshit and a slap in the face to the fans. Keep in mind this game was in the middle of November, it’s not even like they were resting up for the playoffs.

If they really NEED a rest day at least announce it more than 2 hours before the game so people don’t waste money on tickets.

76

lostcitysaint t1_j0ljzhw wrote

Rest players at home. They get seen there all the time. Shouldn’t rest superstars on the road, especially a place you only go once a year. You’re resting on the luxury team plane. Just play.

41

NubEnt t1_j0llr9e wrote

Not that I’m opposed to what you’re saying, but there’s probably a financial reason for resting players for road games over home games.

If you rest players during home games, people will catch on eventually that it’s not guaranteed that your home team’s players will be on the court all the time, and your team’s ownership loses ticket/concession sales. If you rest players during road games, the other team bears the brunt of any such losses.

And ideally, the other team’s home market is mostly there to see their home team’s players anyway, unless they suck that bad.

10

cfranek t1_j0mdqn1 wrote

It has been shown that players get injured on the road more than at home.

5

Malvania t1_j0lw1xh wrote

Balance to that would be for home teams to designate 2-3 players from each away team as "undroppable," (subject to the player being on IR or something) such that they're awarded some sort of financial compensation if the player doesn't play. That would balance the financial cost of resting players

0

jtmj121 t1_j0lkvo4 wrote

Ya rest players against chump teams where you don't need them to win. Detroit has sucked for a while. Yes it sucks for fans but the players / coaches are competitors, they go out there to win.

−7

nickmif t1_j0loant wrote

Dude I was at that game with my buddy who drove four hours to see Steph. He was so bummed and I felt so bad for him.

11

michaelpinkwayne t1_j0m7e9s wrote

They should announce rest days further in advance, but there will still be people who check the schedule when it’s released and buy tickets to certain games to see visiting players.

1

timothythefirst t1_j0maos3 wrote

I mean if you buy a ticket months in advance I feel like you’re doing it with the understanding that anything can happen, if you watch a healthy player play great on Monday night and buy tickets to the game on Tuesday or Wednesday night you’re probably expecting to see him play.

1

fitzcreative t1_j0lknic wrote

Sorry but this seems incredibly short sighted to me. Would you rather enjoy Steph Curry once in Detroit to potentially risk losing out on the longevity of his career? It would be more tragic to watch him fizzle out because he tried to play every single game.

How fatigue is measured in professional sports these days is quite intense. You show up the day of a game and get assessed. Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep, maybe you slept in a funny position, maybe you accidentally pushed your self too hard in a work out. If you don’t score well on the assessment there’s no way the team is going to risk playing you.

I’d rather see these players break records than get burnt out early for the sake of mid season game.

−6

timothythefirst t1_j0lmpqn wrote

I would agree with this if it was something like a nagging injury that playing through would do damage to. I’m not asking them to play injured. And if that is the case, like I said in my last paragraph, announce it publicly much earlier than an hour before the game. Teams in every sport are secretive with injury reports because it makes it harder for the opponent to game plan and that’s bad for the fans.

And it was Steph and Draymond both sitting out for rest (now that I think about it klay was still recovering from the injury so he gets a pass). Did they sleep in the same bed and both sleep funny? I highly doubt a teams best players both had secret underlying conditions and playing against the pistons would’ve been the breaking point that caused their careers to flame out.

Like I said, no one needs to play injured. If they run some kind of test and determine it wouldn’t be safe for a guy to play, announce it before fans are literally in their car on the way to the game. Or reimburse fans a portion of the money they spent on tickets but you know they won’t do that.

7

cyberpunk_VCR t1_j0lux3m wrote

Okay, but the problem isn't giving players the night off. That's expected and not against the rules. What the NBA wants to avoid - and rightfully so - is for teams to give EVERY player in their starting lineup the night off at the same time.

It's highly doubtful that every player on a starting lineup is going to "sleep in a funny position" as you put it.

4

Cladari t1_j0ll4yb wrote

What bothers me is that home teams will charge more for games against teams with big stars. If that star doesn't play because the coach wants to rest him you don't get a refund for the extra amount they charged you.

39

timothythefirst t1_j0lqkre wrote

Bingo. I’ve been a pistons fan for 20+ years, been going to games since the early 2000s when they were actually good, and for the past 12 years the main draw to the arena has been the other teams. And they know this when they sell you the tickets, the emails I get from their ticket office always say stuff like “see Steph curry and the warriors take on the pistons! See lebron James and the lakers take on the pistons!”.

They actually sent out a survey and there was a question on there that asked something to the effect of “what have you been unsatisfied with when attending games” and “star players inactive” was one of the options lol.

26

H83PUTTZ t1_j0m511j wrote

This hurts because I had my first opportunity to see Steph when they played the Jazz a week or so ago. Still a good game but hurts paying $200 a pop for what normally costs $30

8

skrtskerskrt t1_j0lrq1m wrote

They don't get this part at all. NBA more than any other team sport is star dependent. From the marketing to the pricing to referee calls, it's all based on the stars.

4

paperclipknight t1_j0mjq5e wrote

To the detriment of the sport - they really need to pivot away from stars and focus on team rivalries. Just look at how soccer rivalries are built up. People didn’t stop watching Barcelona vs RM as soon as Cr7 & Messi left

6

darkjurai t1_j0mqkqd wrote

I think the amount of player movement undermines team rivalries a bit. Like back in the days of Knicks-Heat, there was seven years of Ewing vs Mourning. Roster stability really helps.

7

paperclipknight t1_j0n30oo wrote

Somewhat so though arguably because the NBA is almost pathologically committed to player rivalries - it’s always “LeBron vs Steph” & never “Tonight the Knicks play the Nets in the New York derby, who’s going to be the kings of NYC”

3

Kevolved t1_j0nojir wrote

Lakers celtics is always great. Granted they both usually have at least decent teams.

1

KeyserSooooze t1_j0mixfs wrote

Gambling reasons too.

Both sportsbooks and bettors get pissed when players don’t play because of an injury they were not aware of.

9

SolidPoint t1_j0l8jxm wrote

They did extend the season window.

It literally just happened.

5

VeseliM t1_j0l9am9 wrote

They extended the season window to get rid of 4 games in 5 nights 5 years ago

4

michaelpinkwayne t1_j0m73to wrote

I honestly think 64 games is the way to go. Look at the NFL, more games doesn’t mean more revenue. The way the game is currently played, 30 minutes a night for 82 games is just too much for even the most durable guys. 64 games would mean fewer injuries, more certainty with who’s playing, and guys playing harder because the games matter more.

You could also throw in some kind of mid-season tournament designed to promote young guys and bench guys.

2

thwgrandpigeon t1_j0m15sa wrote

An entertainment business that often lives and dies on their stars staying healthy. The league is moronic and there are too many games.

1

sgame23 t1_j0l943d wrote

Idk. My friend once paid $800 for super nice birthday tickets to watch Lebron play when the Lakers were coming to town. Turned out to be a rest day for Lebron that was announced a couple hours before tip off. If the Lakers had been fined for that, my friend for one, would have been super okay with it

42

Phenom_Mv3 t1_j0mslv2 wrote

I actually travelled all the way from Australia to see LeBron play against my Heat in 2017. He sat out that one for “load management”. Paid so much for those tix too and he was a late scratch just before tip-off.

2

Oakenbeam t1_j0kzqlm wrote

It’s not just ridiculous it’s potentially dangerous to the health of the players. Regardless of the true reason the team sits people out, realistically these are probably all actual injuries or things these players struggle with. It’s still a physical game

34

skrtskerskrt t1_j0lsr6h wrote

Ok refund the premium portion of the ticket cost for load management. I'm not saying to refund the whole ticket because you got to see a game.

A Detroit home ticket vs Steph, Klay & Dray's Warriors gets priced substantially more than a game vs the Hornets, but when those stars don't play, their team looks just like the Hornets.

The premium charge is further amplified for inter-conference games where fans of that city will only see an opponent once a year, and whoever sets the initial price has kept this in mind.

2

fitzcreative t1_j0lkvsp wrote

I don’t understand the people complaining about the players taking a break lol. They need those breaks or they will get hurt. It’s scientifically proven if you exert yourself at a high intensity while fatigued your risk for injury doubles or triples.

−4

skrtskerskrt t1_j0lstfh wrote

Ok refund the premium portion of the ticket cost for load management. I'm not saying to refund the whole ticket because you got to see a game.

A Detroit home ticket vs Steph, Klay & Dray's Warriors gets priced substantially more than a game vs the Hornets, but when those stars don't play, their team looks just like the Hornets.

The premium charge is further amplified for inter-conference games where fans of that city will only see an opponent once a year, and whoever sets the initial price has kept this in mind.

6

PreyingCelery t1_j0lgqjp wrote

It's not that simple. Teams sit their entire cast of important players all on the same day for no reason. They are throwing games and more or less losing on purpose instead of staggering rest days.

Fans pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars to go to a basketball game and they are not getting the product they paid for. Injuries are luck of the draw. Steph being a healthy scratch is one thing but Steph, Klay, Dray, Poole, Wiggins, etc all healthy scratches is fucked. Why did those fans waste $700 for that?

Everyone blames the league like they should just shorten the season but you chop off 25% of the season and players should lose 25% of their salaries as well. They will never accept it.

edited out a slightly smart aleck first sentence.

14

AdmiralAckbarVT t1_j0m8pz4 wrote

> Everyone blames the league like they should just shorten the season but you chop off 25% of the season and players should lose 25% of their salaries as well. They will never accept it.

Maybe their contracts should be prorated for games played.

4

blogst t1_j0l6av2 wrote

I mean, look at it from the league’s perspective though. Their job is to do what’s best for the game, not individual players or teams. A huge problem for fans of the NBA is that at any point, the all-star player you came to see could be “out” for that night’s game for a rest day. Imagine going onto stubhub and paying a small fortune to take your kids to see Lebron play once in your/their lifetime, he’s not on the injury report, but then he never gets in the game - it’s infuriating as a fan and feels like a middle finger from millionaires to the working class.

The real answer is that the league should either cut the number of games (will never happen because although it may seem like I’m “on the side” of the league, I also realize they’re beholden to greedy billionaires who would never leave revenue on the table for player safety) or lengthen the season to provide for more rest days. But until that happens, it’s in fans’ and the league’s interests to acknowledge that players randomly sitting out for unannounced rest games is a problem and discourage teams from doing it.

2

ZeekLTK t1_j0lbdq0 wrote

The main issue is that not every game is important, which is why players take games off. NFL doesn’t have this problem because there are only 17 games and you have to win as many as possible to make the playoffs, so rarely is a team in position to let their best players sit out a couple times. And if they are, they either have one of the best or worst records in the league and it typically only happens last week or two of the season (aka minimal impact).

IMO if NBA can’t/won’t reduce the number of games, then they should use a format similar to Latin American soccer leagues. Have two parts of the season (Apertura and Clausura) that each have their own champion and then those champions play for the title at the very end. This would make all the games more important because instead of an 82 game single season there would be two 41 game mini-seasons (or realistically less than that to make room for extra playoff games) which would mean sitting out a couple games could actually be the different between making the playoffs or not, which is typically not the case now with so many games on the schedule, and is why they do it so often.

This split format would also kind of curve tanking because they could set it up so that it only looks at the worst record out of the two for the lottery or something so a team could potentially secure a lottery pick in the Apertura and then actually try to win in the Clausura, as opposed to simply trying to be terrible the entire year for the same outcome, which is what they do now.

8

F1Dan88 t1_j0lbs3n wrote

I flew to St. Louis to see the Cardinals at home for my first time in 2006. A week earlier Pujols hurt his oblique and was out for a month. He was my favorite player and I was bummed I didnt get to see him. I wholeheartedly understand wanting to see your favorite players, but you aren't buying a ticket to LeBron James. You are buying a ticket to the Los Angeles Lakers. And in your example you got to see what you paid for. In the example from this article, the Heat won the damn game, which is the goal. Fining a team who fielded a winning squad against another NBA team for their coaching and roster decisions is a massive overreach and sets a dangerous precedent. The players aren't slaves who "must" play whenever the league wants them to.

6

ATL-East-Guy t1_j0leehr wrote

There are plenty of people who are fans of players and not teams. Most folks have their team, and then their favorite players.

Maybe you were a Cavs fan and are ride or die for Lebron so when the Lakers come to town you shell out big. Maybe your kid loves watching Steph shoot threes but lives in Atlanta.

Plenty of scenarios where a person would want to go watch a single player.

4

odiezilla t1_j0lemmf wrote

I’m sorry, but basketball is vastly different. People can and do absolutely buy tickets to see individual superstars as opposed to teams. Not to say certain franchises aren’t popular draws, but nobody ever gave a damn about coming out to see the Cleveland Cavs or Philadelphia 76ers. You went to see Lebron and Allen Iverson do spectacular things.

4

timothythefirst t1_j0lhz2g wrote

The nba is as popular as it is because since the early 80s they’ve marketed star players over teams. David stern openly said that. And because of that, there’s TONS of people out there who will tell you “I’m not a lakers fan, I’m a lebron fan”, and it’s always been like that.

Baseball has always done the complete opposite of that and not marketed their stars well at all and just rely on teams to capture their local fan base, so it makes sense to hold them to a different standard.

Plus hurting your oblique and missing a month straight is completely different than a star basketball player taking a rest day. No one gets mad at basketball players when they sprain their ankle and miss multiple weeks because that’s an actual injury that you can’t or at least shouldn’t play through. It just pisses people off to see “rest” on the injury report. It’s just like how if you called into work because you had covid they’d understand and tell you get well soon but if you call in and just say “I’m in the mood for a rest day” they’d look at you crazy.

2

abqcurl t1_j0lf90c wrote

Just went to a Cardinals game at Wrigley this summer. Of course I was hoping to see Pujols and Molina play but the only day we could go was a day game after a night game. Figured both of them would be resting, especially when I saw they played the previous game. I was actually hoping for the Cubs to tie or take the lead in the late innings so maybe Pujols could pinch hit.

1

AKAkorm t1_j0othkf wrote

Teams are resting perfectly healthy players because it better fits their playoff aspirations. Which sounds fine until you consider that fans are being bent over backwards for tickets, parking, food, etc to attend games.

Sports are entertainment first and foremost and the NBA should take these actions and more to make sure fans see the best possible product.

To me, it’s ridiculous that guys getting paid millions and millions can’t give all they have for the fans who pay their wages by paying for tickets and tuning into games on TV. They’re ridiculously fortunate and they should be held to that standard.

1