The NBA has a crisis: half of its stars are injured
At the start of the season, several injuries have emerged that have some NBA stars out of action.
An unfortunate but common situation for fans who regularly attend La Liga matches. NBAis the lack of knowledge of whether any of the star players – or more than one – will be out of the lineup due to some unforeseen injury, or due to the phenomenon of scheduled rest, or load management.
At the start of what has been one of the league’s most exciting seasons in recent memory, several unfortunate injuries have arisen that have kept several of the league’s best players out of action for periods ranging from short to long term. Currently, of the 45 players who were named to a All-Star Game or to a team All-NBA In the last three seasons, 20 of them are out of action for at least their next game.
Others, like novice electricians VJ Edgecombe of the Philadelphia 76ers, and Dylan Harper of the San Antonio Spurs, are also out of action. And still others who do not meet the established criteria, but are highly considered star players, such as LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets, Jordan Poole of the New Orleans Pelicans and RJ Barrett of the Toronto Raptors, are also not available for their teams.
Is there anything the NBA can do to keep its best players on the floor?
What causes so many injuries in the NBA?
In recent years, it has been impossible to ignore the number of injuries that have affected several of the biggest stars in the game. NBA. The emphasis on a more offensive style of play, with the pronounced use of space, and the legalization of zone defense to better rotate players has increased the speed and movement of all players in the league.
The three-point shooting revolution that Golden State carried out with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompsonas well as the Houston Rockets in the era of James Harden spread rapidly in the NBA over the last decade. In order for the teams to adopt the model and remain competitive, the players have also had to exert greater physical effort and change their physiognomy.
In high-caliber matchups, such as the playoffs, this has increased. A few months ago, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, Damian Lillard then of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Tyrese Haliburtonof the Indiana Pacers, suffered ruptures of their Achilles tendons during the postseason.
But injuries have spread to any point on the schedule, since entering this season, young players like Victor Wenbanyama of the San Antonio Spurs, Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies, and Giannis Antetokounmpoof the Bucks, are on the injured list as of now. Veterans like Curry, Kawhi Leonard of the LA Clippers and LeBron Jamesof the Los Angeles Lakers, have also lost duels although all three are currently ready to play.
“Around the league, everyone understands that it’s easier to score when you come out at speed in transition,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said at a news conference last week. “But when that happens, the games have greater speed. The players run further and further than ever. We have all the data,” he continued.
Kerr makes it clear that these situations are not in vain, and that as physical fitness becomes more and more widespread, injuries – especially muscle and tendon injuries – become more likely.
Which stars are injured in the NBA?
Currently, of the 46 players on our list, the 20 who are out as of this list’s writing are some of the most important players in the league.
At the moment, not only the NBA regular season is affected, but also the NBA Cup, the Cup tournament played during the season, as well as potentially the All-Star Game, which is normally held to showcase the power of the league’s most famous figures and is also driven by the voting power of the fans.
Forced rest in the NBA
This increase in injuries has also put the practice of load management, or scheduled breaks for some players, under the microscope. Since, despite granting days off or games without playing to the stars without having an injury involved, the number of injuries has not decreased.
Although the NBA has tried mechanisms to encourage its players to reduce this policy, it remains quite popular for some players regardless of the fact that the risk of injury is not much lower when applying rest during games. “We can convince teams and players that playing is in their interests, but unfortunately we are never going to fully resolve that issue,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in 2024.
In some NBA circles, two plans have been proposed to combat injuries: increase the size of rosters, that is, have more active players per team, which would also increase the amount of payments and contracts that would have to be made by the owners, or reduce the schedule to 72 games instead of the usual 82. None have been well received to date.
Ideally, the NBA will have to either develop better recovery techniques or invest in medical technology to apply to its players, or simply accept that as long as this era of the league focuses on high speed and lots of movement, injuries will continue to be an everyday issue.
