Load Management has been the latest buzz word(s) to hit the NBA this season and it's something that has carried over from last year. Both LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard were at the center of the "load management" debacle and this season, Kawhi continues to carry the torch. Yesterday, Kawhi was put on blast by fans and members of the media for sitting out yet another Clippers game. It was revealed he has been nursing a nagging injury but fans didn't want to hear it.
Jalen Rose spoke about this phenomenon while on Jalen & Jacoby and offered a peculiar perspective. As far as he's concerned, "load management" is a product of the media and fans' attitudes towards player success.
“What ends up happening is fans and media should take the blame for this,” Rose said. “Here’s why: You guys have shown players you don’t care about the journey, the 82-game season. You care about the destination. You dumb it down so very much that the regular season becomes irrelevant to you on how you analyze players and you only talk about how many championships you won. Players today are more skilled than ever, more smarter than ever and have more access to information than ever.”
Rose's co-host seemed to be surprised by his comments but he makes an interesting point. The regular season is becoming increasingly moot especially if you're an upper-echelon team like the Clippers. With that being said, maybe Kawhi is about to spark a league-wide trend that will move its way across every single team.