In the upcoming season, NBA teams will be limited to resting only one star player per game, as per the new regulations, which carry the potential for substantial fines amounting to millions of dollars.
According to the Player Participation Policy, a star player is classified as any individual selected in either an All-NBA Team or NBA All-Star team within the preceding three seasons.
“If you’re a healthy player in this league, you’re expected to play,” said NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
NBA teams will play 82 regular-season games from 24 October until 19 April.
Teams have been told to “manage its roster to ensure that no more than one star player is unavailable for the same game”.
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Teams will be fined $100,000 (£80,000) for the first violation and $250,000 (£200,000) for the second. Each further violation will be met by a fine of $1m (£800,000) more than the previous one.
Franchises have to “maintain a balance” between the home and away games a star player misses, while star players have to be available for all nationally televised matches.
If a fit player is rested, they must attend the game and be “visible to fans”. Star players cannot have a “long-term shutdown” – a run of games they miss.
The recently introduced policy includes exceptions for cases of injuries, personal matters, and pre-approved limitations on back-to-back games, which are determined by factors such as age, career workload, and injury history.
Throughout the season, teams engage in roughly one game every two days, accumulating a total of 82 matches over a span of 178 days.
To reduce the occurrence of teams having to play consecutive games in different cities, the NBA has implemented an increase in back-to-back away games against the same opposition.
Silver said: “It’s a shared view by everyone in the league – it’s not just coming from the league office.
“There’s an acknowledgment across the league that we need to return to that principle. There’s a sense from all the different constituent groups across the league that this is about the fans.
“It’s gotten away from us, particularly when you see young, healthy players.
“We don’t see any statistical data suggesting players increase their likelihood of getting injured as they go further along in their season, or even in back-to-backs, which may surprise people.”
