Los Angeles Clippers: The outrage against load management is ridiculous

The Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard have received scrutiny for resting Leonard with load management, which has been absolutely bewildering.

The Los Angeles Clippers have started the 2019 season with a 5-3 record, however, the team’s record with Kawhi Leonard playing is 4-1. This is also without Paul George, so the Clippers’ potential ceiling is much higher than this.

Those two losses with Leonard did not come in games that Leonard was hurt. Instead, they both were one half of a back-to-back in which the team opted to rest Leonard with load management to keep him fresh and healthy for the long haul.

This was something that we all expected out of Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Toronto Raptors did the same thing and Leonard only played 60 games last season. He stays fresh to be at his best for the postseason.

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The second of the two load management games came in a highly-anticipated showdown against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. Since Leonard sat out and took this showdown away from the fans, the move of resting players with load management has been a hot talking point that has received a lot of criticism.

There are two primary arguments against load management. The first is that it hurts the fans, especially the ones that bought tickets especially to see Leonard play and are not getting the chance to see him.

This applies more to road games, as someone in Charlotte only gets one chance a year to see Leonard play in person.

It does suck and I certainly feel for those fans, but that is part of the risk of buying a ticket. Leonard could legitimately get hurt the game before and end up sitting out, presenting the same outcome to the fans in this situation.

Everyone has been in that situation before regardless of the sport, it is just part of the natural risk of attending a sporting event.

The other argument ties in with players in NBA’s past, who would play all 82 games and not “complain” about it as this generation does. The perfect figurehead for this side of the coin is Michael Jordan.

Jordan has even come out against load management, saying that NBA players are paid to play 82 games.

There definitely is something commendable about playing all 82 games and there are certain guys in the league that can do that. Certain bodies that do not need that extra rest to stay sharp in the postseason.

However, even with the changes to the schedule to make it more player-friendly, playing 82 professional basketball games then playing another 16-28 in the postseason is no easy task. They might be freak athletes, but they also have the same human bodies as we do.

Teams have been adopting this strategy for years, it just never had a term behind it and did not receive scrutiny. You know how many times a star player has sat out of a game with a “sore thigh” or “flu-like symptoms,” when in reality it was just a designated off-day? Probably quite a few.

And for as much as Michael Jordan complains, he had his own form of load management. Let’s not forget that he took off an entire four, nearly five, seasons off in his 19-year career.

Baseball players get scheduled off-days and nobody blinks an eye. Yes, their season is 162 games, but baseball is also far less physically grueling than basketball. So if a baseball player can take one game off a week, why can’t a basketball player do the same?

I don’t know. The fact that Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers are even getting scrutiny in the first place was surprising to me.

Next. Dream Corey Seager trade scenario. dark

Because if Leonard did not partake in load management, and then fizzled out in the postseason, the exact same critics would be using that against him for his legacy. Take some off-days Kawhi, you deserve it.

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