New rules approved by the NBA next week will limit the amount of rest stars such as Joel Embiid and James Harden can take throughout the season.
Last week, the NBA approved new rules to crack down on teams resting star players.
To summarize quickly, the association decided on a new ruleset that prohibits resting more than one star at a time, resting stars for nationally televised games, and many more under threat of more expensive fines for violators. For a full breakdown of the new rules, see our story from last week’s decision.
For reference, the NBA defines a “star†as a player who made an All-Star or All-NBA team in any of the three previous seasons. For the Sixers, this includes Joel Embiid and (if he plays) James Harden.
Harden aside, as there is enough uncertainty surrounding him as it is, Sixers fans may be wondering how this will affect Embiid’s scheduling and playing time.
New Sixers head coach Nick Nurse recently gave his thoughts on the new policy that applies to Embiid Ky Carlin of the Sixers Wire earlier this week.
Embiid (and Harden, for what it’s worth) are no strangers to loading up on off days, especially at the end of back-to-backs or in busier months with longer games. . Those rest days for Embiid seem like they are mostly in the past under the new rules and under the helm of Nurse, who is looking to keep the big man on the floor.
“I think we’re looking at it maybe a little bit different than people think we are,” Nurse told Sixers Wire. “We are trying to get [Embiid] to play more. Our goal is for it to go up for him, not the other way around, and other people say, ‘Oh, that’s the playoffs. Is it him?’ We’re just trying to take it in a different direction.â€
That may come as a surprise to Sixers fans who, understandably, are often concerned about their star center being overworked throughout the regular season slog — especially with Embiid no stranger to missing time due to of damages.
Nurse hasn’t ruled out unforeseen factors throwing a wrench in his plans, but his sights are set on keeping Embiid playing under his control.
“I think that’s just what our people here believe is that he can play and again, knock on wood, cross our fingers, all that stuff,” Nurse continued. “There are always things that can come up with those things, but I don’t know. I believe in guys playing as hard as they can and we’ll see what happens.
The new rules change concerns about NEED for rest for these stars, saying that the regular season in its current form is too long. However, for this season at least, the load management will be very different across the league in 82 games under the new guidelines.
Sixers training camp begins on October 3, with preseason tipping on October 8 and the regular season finally begins on October 26.
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