During one of the many interviews he has given since his arrival in Dallas, Kyrie Irving was asked the day before yesterday about the current trend which sees a lot of players missing matches in order to ensure the length of a season. We are talking about load management, and Kyrie has a clear opinion on the matter.
Load management. A term used point-blank, indiscriminately and tirelessly, what a beautiful French language all the same. Some have become specialists in it to such an extent that it has become a punchline (Kawhi Leonard, not to name him), but the fact of seeing NBA stars play two games out of three big max each season raises questions and it is quite logical, as long as we ask ourselves these questions with hindsight and respect for the athletes.
Kyrie Irving was asked about the subject and so he has his own opinion, no joke, and for once it’s not about a smoky theory or, worse, a subject making him a barely defensible person, let’s study here its terms:
“I don’t know who coined the term load management, but it’s becoming nonsense. I think it dehumanizes some of us about the way we work on a daily basis. It’s a job that takes us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We have cameras pointed at us constantly, it’s really high level and it’s serious.
“No one is in our body for us. We’re doing everything we can to keep you updated on how things are going but you always have doctors on the internet who are going to come and tell you ‘you have to come back in two weeks’, ‘this guy isn’t really hurt, that he just doesn’t want to play’
All this narrative (of load management, editor’s note), really, it becomes nonsense. As players, we really want to be at the highest level, not only for our families but also for our fans. Because we are nothing without our fans.”
I think this term needs to be changed. 82 games is a long time. I’m not saying it’s impossible, it’s 2023, we have all the necessary technology, we just have to use it all intelligently and communicate as well as possible on each person’s individual projects. Every body is different. You can very well see someone heal in two weeks while another will need a month and a half.”
Interesting that! For once Kyrie Irving turned his tongue in his mouth seven times before speaking and here puts his finger on a sensitive subject but which deserves his collective reflection. So that we finally know why… Kawhi Leonard only plays one match out of three?