League adopts stricter rules
NBA teams must field stars or pay a fine
September 13, 2023, 11:40 p.m
Anyone who spares their star players in less important games will have to pay a severe penalty in the future. This is what the NBA club owners decide. Crowd-pullers like Jayson Tatum and Anthony Davis are less likely to take a break next season – unlike LeBron James.
The club owners of the North American professional basketball league NBA have decided on stricter rules and higher penalties for resting star players. The league defines a star player as anyone who was on an NBA All-Star or All-NBA squad in the three previous seasons, or was named to the All-Star Game in the same season.
For the Boston Celtics, for example, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are not allowed to both sit out in the same game as long as both are healthy. According to ESPN, 25 of the 30 NBA clubs and almost eleven percent of all professionals are affected by the new rules. An NBA season has 82 games in the main round, only then do the play-offs begin.
According to ESPN and The Athletic, the vote on the so-called Player Participation Policy gives the league office more power to sanction violations: the first violation will result in $100,000, the second $250,000, and the third one million. However, there should be exceptions that are linked to a certain age or number of career games. It will therefore be easier for superstar LeBron James, who will turn 39 later this season, to get a break than for his teammate Anthony Davis, who is only 30 years old. Healthy players resting for a game must be visible to spectators and at games.
Under new rules recommended by the NBA Competition Committee, teams cannot exclude a star player or use him in a way that compromises the integrity of the game. This integrity of the league could be interpreted as threatened if teams no longer use their stars and accept a defeat in order to improve their own prospects in the talent lottery of the NBA draft after missing the playoffs. This so-called “tanking” is frowned upon, but it has been practiced again and again in the past. The interests of the NBA’s media partners also played a role.