CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers could not have been clearer last week on their injury report when they held stars Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley out of a game in Miami for “rest.”
Per the NBA’s Player Participation Policy, what the Cavs did was an obvious violation: You can’t sit more than one star — defined as a player who was selected to an All-NBA or All-Star team in any of the prior three seasons — out of the same game if neither player has a listable injury. Thus, they became the first team this season to be fined for resting too many players, docked $100,000 on Tuesday for the violation.
The rule may be plain as day, but on Wednesday, Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said his team didn’t do anything wrong and made it sound like, when the time comes, the Cavs would make the same decision again.
“Can I be frank? No,” Atkinson said when asked if he agreed with, or accepted, the NBA’s ruling. “I gotta look at the Cavs’ best interest.”
Not even 24 hours before the Cavs were fined, Giannis Antetokounmpo left the Milwaukee Bucks’ game in Cleveland with a soft tissue injury (groin). On Saturday night in Cleveland, the Grizzlies’ Ja Morant left the game with a soft-tissue injury (calf).
All the while, NBA coaches like the Golden State Warriors’ Steve Kerr are openly opining that, with the changes in style of play, which lead to far more running and more possessions, creating much more wear and tear on players’ bodies, the length of an 82-game regular season is no longer safe. Kerr held Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green out of Wednesday’s game (in Miami, of all places) after the three played in Tuesday’s loss to Orlando. The Warriors were playing on their second consecutive night for the fifth time this season, and all the key players Kerr held out were given injury designations on the injury report other than “rest.”
In the Cavs’ case, they just finished a stretch of playing 15 games in 27 days. The night they held out Mitchell and Mobley for rest, they were playing the front end of back-to-back games, with the second coming last Thursday back in Cleveland. Another of their stars, Darius Garland, missed the first few weeks of the season because of toe surgery and reinjured the same toe in a game Nov. 10 in Miami, which meant he was already going to miss the Wednesday game against the Heat. Max Strus, the Cavs’ starting small forward, hasn’t played this season as he recovers from foot surgery.
So Cleveland might argue it has to be even more cautious with its remaining starters.
“I think my No. 1 job is to protect the health of our players,” Atkinson said. “Obviously, we’ll have a discussion with the organization (about) what that looks like going forward, but that’s a big part of my job and how we manage that.
“Personally, I’ll rock with that decision.”
The league instituted its participation rules for the 2023-24 season, which include a requirement that players must appear in at least 65 games to maintain eligibility for postseason individual awards. The rules were implemented because it appeared that too many players, particularly stars, were sitting out of games in which they were not hurt. But that’s not the case this season.
Victor Wembanyama is out with a calf strain. So are Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday, in addition to Morant. LeBron James has played just one game so far — Tuesday night — because of sciatica. Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum and Damian Lillard are all likely out for the entire season due to Achilles tears; Kyrie Irving hopes to play at some point after a torn knee ligament suffered in March.
Just to name a few.
“The whole league,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said Wednesday. “Rest was one of the things, and I think a lot of people believe that hurt us too. Guys are missing games, and then playoffs come, and no one’s ready. So, we’re doing something different and something wrong, and I don’t have the answer.”
According to an ESPN report, NBA teams are playing at the fastest average collective pace since the 1988-89 season, and players have combined to travel 34.3 miles per game this season at an average speed of 4.43 mph — the longest average distance and fastest average speed since player tracking began in 2013-14.
“Everyone talks about pace, but it’s the intensity of a lot of things. It’s not just running up and down the court,” Atkinson said. “Teams are pressing farther up the court, which means what? Cover more ground. The offensive rebounding rate is higher than ever. So now, physically, you gotta go crash (the boards), and then you gotta get back. It used to be you just have to get back.”
Atkinson’s other point in objecting to the fine the NBA handed down: The Cavs won the game that Mitchell and Mobley missed. They beat the Heat 130-116 behind 30 points from Jarrett Allen, the lone remaining starter on the court from last year’s playoff team that earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
“It’s like, wait a second, are you discrediting the guys that played?” Atkinson said. “We developed guys and we won the game, and we get penalized for it? That doesn’t make sense to me.
“I’m sure the NBA doesn’t agree with everything I do,” Atkinson continued. “It’s a great league, it’s a great product, but I have to stick up for our guys.”
— The Athletic’s Eric Nehm contributed.
