The NBA doesn't want star players sitting out of games for no reason -- and now the league is trying to do something about it.
NBA Board of Governors is expected to vote on a new policy that would make teams unable to rest two stars in the same game, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported Monday, citing sources. The vote is expected to take place this week.
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A "star player," under current discussions, would be defined as someone who made an All-Star appearance or All-Team team in any of the past three seasons, Charania reported.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported, citing source, that under the new rules, teams would be fined $100,000 for a first violation, $250,000 for a second violation and $1 million more than the previous penalty for each additional violation.
Golden State Warriors
This policy is designed to hinder load management, which has increased NBA-wide in recent years. It rose to prominence when Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs rested stars Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker for a primetime game against the Miami Heat in 2012, which the team was ultimately fined for.
Load management has only increased in recent seasons, so it makes sense that the league wants to get a handle on it. Player health remains important, but the NBA is obviously concerned about its ticketholders and television partners, too.
This could have an impact on both the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, who have several players that fall under the "star player" definition. The Warriors have four players that fit the criteria -- Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and Chris Paul -- while the Kings have two -- De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.