Jacque Vaughn, head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, looks on during the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Barclays Center on Dec. 27, 2023. Photo by Dustin Satloff via Getty Images
Back in September, the NBA implemented a rule to combat load management. Four months later, the first team has violated said rule.
The Brooklyn Nets became the first team to be fined for breaking the NBA’s policy. Back on December 27, the Nets opted to bench four starting players: Nic Claxton, Cam Johnson, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Dorian Finney-Smith. This was, of course, much to the disappointment of the attending fans.
What is Load Management?
Load management has become an increasing problem in major sports, particularly the NBA. It involves creating regular rest days for star players so they don’t have to play every game in the schedule. However, this hampers the on-court product as fans paying to watch their stars play, ultimately pay to watch them sit on the sidelines.
“Following an investigation, including review by an independent physician, the NBA determined that four Nets rotation players, who did not participate in the game, could have played under the medical standard in the Player Participation Policy, which was adopted prior to this season,” a statement released by the league read.
Policy Specifics
The policy specifies that teams may not rest more than one star player per game, barring injury. A star player is defined as a player who has an NBA All-Star appearance or was an All-NBA player within the last three seasons. A first offense results in a $100,000 fine for the violating organization, and the fine increases to $200,000 and $1 million, and then doubles for subsequent offenses.
Following the Nets’ 144-122 blowout loss to the Bucks that game, head coach Jacque Vaughn was criticized for calling the game an “exhibition” game. He claimed that he rested the players because one of them could’ve gotten injured. But this came off as weak, and drew parallels to the team giving up and giving themselves no shot at beating a talented Bucks team.
“I have too much respect for the dudes that suit up and put their body on the line and the competition level to even mention the word ‘exhibition,’” Vaughn said. “Any guy could’ve ended their career tonight by one play. And I treated it as such.”
What’s Next?
In their last 12 games, the Nets have gone 2-10, with those two wins coming against the lowly Pistons. They currently sit at 15-20 and 9th in the Eastern Conference. NBA fans knew the post-Durant and post-Irving era would be rough for the Nets. But that appears to be nothing short of an understatement at this point.
