The NBA approved new rules regarding the league’s player resting policy. As such, teams can be investigated for load managing multiple stars during the same game. For an aging team such as the Golden State Warriors, these new rules could spell trouble.
In a recent episode of his “Big Shot Rob” podcast, seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry declared the Warriors would be the first team to receive a fine under the new rules. Horry noted how Golden State’s need to rest Klay Thompson throughout the season could put it into a difficult situation.
“I say the first team that gets fined will be the Golden State Warriors. Because you’ve got to with a player like Klay (Thompson). … I think sometimes you’re going to have to say, ’We’ve got to take this fine because we’ve got to rest him. … You’ve got to protect him from this. He’s getting up in age. He’s had significant injuries that kept him out for two years. And he’s one of those players, he deserves it.”
Horray might be onto something. The Warriors could indeed be the first team to be served with a fine for their load management. However, it will not be because of resting Klay Thompson. The NBA released guidelines on how they will define a star. Under their new guidelines, the league defines a star player as a player named to an All-Star Game or an All-NBA team in the last three seasons.
Thompson last made an All-Star team in 2019 and hasn’t been part of an All-NBA team since 2016. As such, he would not qualify under the league’s new guidelines. Furthermore, there will also be allowances made for Steph Curry.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
“The NBA will allow pre-approved designated back-to-back allowances for players who are 35 years old on opening night or have career workloads of 34,000 regular-season minutes or 1,000 regular-season and playoff games combined, sources said.”
Given the Warriors’ aging status and Thompson’s absence from an All-Star team in recent years, these rules will not hit Golden State as hard as some people expect.
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