The NBA is currently plagued by an increasingly present evil: the players refuse to give 100% and to play all the games, except in the playoffs… While the leaders are looking for solutions to this problem which affects the quality of the product, Michael Jordan had it all planned out a few years ago. He thought he knew the reason for this sad development.
A few years ago when Kobe Bryant still participated, the All-Star Game was an event not to be missed in the NBA, with the best players on the planet who competed in intense, disputed, but always very spectacular endgames… Unfortunately today, the all-star game suffers from the same ills as the regular season.
How to push the selected players to give 100% during this exhibition match, when a large majority refuses to play the 82 matches with their team? Driven by data ever more present in this microcosm, coaches now refuse to let their stars play during back-to-back, when they are not the ones who put themselves aside at the slightest pain.
When Michael Jordan announced the birth of load management
The phenomenon is not new, but it takes quite incredible proportions that annoy fans and observers alike. In the 90′s for example, it was unthinkable for Michael Jordan and his colleagues to stay home for the regular season, despite the fatigue and pain. But strangely, the Bulls’ No. 23 had anticipated this development in Mark Vancil’s book:
You can hear about the exploits of some champions, you can read books about the best way to win, but athletes must be examples. Until people see, they don’t do. Tomorrow’s generations will have to see an NBA player who agrees to play with an injury, see a champion who is in training the day after his title.
We must all be examples, so that young people can have ideals to achieve. Without it, they will develop bad habits. If we lose that connection, then it’s going to start to fade, and in 20 years, nobody wants to play with a little cold or a little flu, and nobody wants to step on the court with a sore ankle.
According to Michael Jordan’s logic, the current problem in the NBA dates back to a few years ago, when the stars of the league stopped setting an example for the younger generations. Today, it is acceptable to play every other match, not to grit your teeth in the face of pain, to change teams at the slightest annoyance, which is obviously harmful…
Michael Jordan had seen it all before anyone else about the load management. And according to his analysis of the situation, it is useless to tackle the current players, it is rather necessary to attack their elders, who did not give the good example.
