The NBA’s new Player Participation Policy was a big hot topic as most of the league had their media day on Monday.
Since this is the first time media gets to really talk to players and coaches, lots of people wanted to know how they felt about it. When rules like this are put in, it’s the players who are impacted the most so it makes sense why someone would want to know how they feel about it.
One of the players that most people thought it would impact the most is Clippers star Kawhi Leonard who hasn’t played 65 games or more since he was with the Spurs in the 2016-17 season. Most of that is due to him being injured almost every year but some was because he was strategically resting so he could be ready for the playoffs.
Knowing that, it was pretty obvious that he would be asked about the new policy while at media day which he was and he gave a perfect Kawhi answer. He kind of put a rest to the whole load management thing because he says he doesn’t do that and instead he’s hurt when he doesn’t play.
“I’m not a guy that’s sitting down because I’m doing load management,” Leonard said. “When I was with the Raptors, it was different. I was coming off an injury, and you have to know the details from the doctor. But if the league is seeing or trying to mock what I did with the Raptors, they should stop because I was injured during that whole year.
“But other than that, if I’m able to play, I’ll play basketball.”
Kawhi Leonard fires back the load management claims:
“When I was with the Raptors, it was different. I was coming off an injury… If the NBA is trying to mock that, then they should stop. Other than that, if I’m able to play, I’ll play basketball.”
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) October 2, 2023
This is players league and they are the most important parts of the NBA. Nothing works without them. So if players are sitting out to make sure they are good for the playoffs then so be it.
