Orlando Florida — Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr said he is “very concerned” that the NBA’s increased pace of play and its shortened 82-game schedule are leading to an increase in soft tissue injuries.
In the last two days, milwaukee bucks Ahead giannis antetokounmpo Suffered a groin strain during San Antonio Spurs announced that center Victor Wembanyama Left calf strain and protector stephen castle Have a hip flexor strain.
Five other NBA players are also currently out with calf strains: anthony davis, Ty Jerome, dylan harper, ja morant And junior holiday,
,[The Warriors’ medical staff] They believe wear and tear, speed, speed, mileage are factors in these injuries,” Kerr said.
According to ESPN Research, the league is playing at its fastest average collective pace since the 1988–89 season.
“Across the league, everyone understands that it’s easier to score if you beat the opponent, get out in transition,” Kerr said. “But when everyone is doing that, the games are moving at a much faster pace. Everyone has to step up to 25 feet because everyone can shoot 3s. We have all the data. Players are running faster and further. [than] First. We’re trying to do our best, but we basically have a game every other night. It’s not an easy thing to do.”
Kerr has been a vocal supporter of reducing the NBA schedule from 82 games to 72 or fewer, which he believes would benefit from additional rest and practice time over the course of several months.
“We haven’t really had a single practice on this road trip,” Kerr said. “Not even one. We’ve gone a week or more. Eight days, not a single practice. It’s just game, game, game. So not only is there no recovery time, there’s no practice time. What was different back in the day was, you had four [games] Over five nights, which wasn’t great, but then you’d have four days between games. You’ll take a day off and get some good practice in.”
The Warriors are playing for the fifth consecutive time already in the month, playing at Orlando on Tuesday night and Miami on Wednesday night to conclude a six-game road trip. After the Miami game, they will have played a league-high 17 games in 12 cities in 29 days.
But Kerr expressed doubt that the league would seriously consider reducing the schedule due to the financial implications.
“The difficult thing is that all the constituents have to agree to take less revenue,” Kerr said. “Good luck in America in 2025, in any industry. Imagine a big company saying, ‘You know, we’re not worried about our stock price. We’re really concerned about employing people and giving people steady jobs and making our product better.’ This is not happening. You know this.”
