What would you choose: an 82-game season where your favorite stars sit out a few games due to injury or rest, or a 65-game season with every player healthy and on the floor every night? Right now, the NBA is leaning toward the first option; fewer games would mean less money, and the league isn’t about to go there. For now, it’s just a debate, with everyone weighing in, including Draymond Green, who, in fact, missed his last game due to injury.

On the Draymond Green Show, the Warriors’ star forward opened up on load management, pointing squarely to the medical staff as the ones calling the shots, saying, “…when I take a step back and you look at all the different numbers that they’re keeping, I do understand why, you know, why it’s a thing. Because oftentimes today, it’s not really the player saying, ‘Yo, I’m going to sit out this game or I need to sit out.’ Oftentimes it’s the medical staff, performance staff coming to you saying, ‘Yo, we think you need to sit out a game… your numbers are trending back.'”

And tonight’s game versus the Rockets, along with Steve Kerr’s comments on Stephen Curry, only proves Green right. Kerr admitted he noticed Curry struggling after the collision but trusted his staff for confirmation, saying, “I always just rely on the training staff to tell me whatever I need to know. So, I saw… but I did see him limping.”

But there’s a strong logic to lean on the staff’s analysis now more than ever. Green elaborated, ‘I came into the league when it wasn’t a thing, and being in the league and seeing the changes, seeing how much faster the game is, seeing all the science they have today, man, there’s a number quantifying everything we do. Whether you go on the court to work out or literally step on the court during a game, they’re tracking your workload every single time. How many times you’re not able to reach top speed…,” and he added that this very precision is also why some people push back against it. 

Technology has stepped in to help manage the grind. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili were early examples, with the Spurs using load management during the 2013-14 season to protect their 37- and 36-year-old stars.

Cameras installed in every arena tracked players’ movement, including distances covered and average speed, while biometric data, from reaction time to oxygen use and lactic acid levels, gave medical staffs the tools to carefully guide rest decisions.

In short, the staff has a detailed record of your movement, making them the best judge of how far your body can go and when it needs a break. That’s why Load management sounds like a no-brainer.  Giving your players a chance to take it easy only helps them bounce back stronger and ultimately contribute to winning the game.

But the NBA’s own decade-long study, looking at 150 top players each year from 2013-14 to 2022-23, found that skipping games didn’t actually lower injury rates, even during packed schedules.

But it is also true that the NBA has never been faster. Teams are pushing through 100.4 possessions per 48 minutes, the fastest pace since the 1980s. Players are sprinting at 4.43 mph on average, covering over 34 miles per game combined, and the packed NBA Cup schedule barely leaves a moment to rest. Factor in constant travel between cities, and it’s no wonder Draymond Green says the game today is “much faster now” than when he first arrived in the league.

Maybe that’s why Steve Kerr, who is such a strong believer in reducing the load, because the injury woes for the Warriors are only piling up. 

Warriors’ injury crisis worsens

Green was back in the lineup for Wednesday’s clash against the Rockets after missing just one game with a foot sprain. Coach Kerr confirmed the star forward will face “no minutes limit if he plays Wednesday,” as reported by Underdog NBA on X. The injury happened during last Friday’s 127-123 loss to the Blazers, when Donovan Clingan landed on Green while chasing a loose ball. Even in that game, Green filled the stat sheet, scoring 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting, along with seven assists, five rebounds, three steals, and a block in 34 minutes. 

Green sat out Monday’s win over the Utah Jazz, but his return meant Gary Payton sliding back into the second unit, restoring the Warriors’ rotation. But Payton left the game early with a lower-body issue, seeing just five minutes on the floor. In that short time, he recorded one assist, one rebound, and missed his only shot attempt. His banged-up foot added to Golden State’s already thin lineup, which was missing Jonathan Kuminga and Al Horford due to knee and back problems, respectively.

Stephen Curry also felt the sting of the game’s physicality. With just 3:24 left in the fourth quarter and the score tied at 91, Curry collided hard with Amen Thompson under the basket. The play worsened Curry’s right quad contusion, forcing him to leave the court immediately and head to the locker room for evaluation. An MRI has been scheduled to determine the severity of the injury.

The injury situation for the Warriors is stacked against them. Kuminga missed his seventh straight game due to bilateral knee tendinitis, while De’Anthony Melton has been out since tearing his ACL on November 12, 2024.

These injuries have left the lineup stretched thin, contributing to their 104-100 loss against the Rockets.