NBA approves rule allowing fines for resting star players 6k4v4l

Adam Silver Explains New NBA Participation Policy for Resting Star Players z366n

On Wednesday, the NBA Board of Governors approved a policy permitting the league to impose fines on teams benching star players during games. The policy will be effective starting the 2023-24 regular season.

This newly approved policy, proposed by the NBA Competition Committee, will apply to nationally televised games and in-season tournament games, as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Teams may also receive a heavier fine for benching multiple star players during regular-season matches.

According to the rules, teams are subjected to a $100,000 fine for their initial violation, escalating to $250,000 for a second violation and increasing by $1 million for each subsequent violation.

Teams will only face penalties for resting “star players,” defined as any player who has made the All-Star team or was named to the All-Pro team in the past three seasons.

The policy allows exceptions for injuries, personal reasons and pre-approved restrictions related to back-to-back games, taking into the player’s age, career workload and injury history.

These rules aim to prevent more than one star player from being absent in the same game, ensuring that star players are available for all national TV and NBA In-Season Tournament games.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver emphasized that the policy aims to prevent unhealthy, injured players from playing. He voiced this opinion, referencing the belief of many older players that taking nights off would increase their chances of getting injured and disrupt their performance rhythm.

“I mean, this is an acknowledgment that it’s gotten away from us a bit, particularly I think when you see young, healthy players who are resting. It becomes maybe even more notion of stature around the league as opposed to absolute needed rest — or it’s just part of being an NBA player that you rest on certain days — and that’s what we’re trying to move away from,” Silver said.

A total of 25 teams and 50 players, roughly 11 percent of the league, are affected by the new rules. Among them, fifteen teams have multiple players who were All-NBA or All-Star selections in the last three seasons. The situation could potentially change after the 2024 NBA All-Star Game.

Besides the new star rest policy, the NBA BOG also made changes to the game protest rules. For playoff games or the last day of the season, protests must be submitted within 10 hours of the game’s end. The league may introduce a faster process for handling protests and increase the fee for game protests to $25,000, up from the current $10,000.