If you guessed that Michael Jordan would be no fan of the modern NBA practice of taking games off for non-injury related reasons – otherwise known as load management – you would be right.
In a recently released portion of a lengthy interview with NBC’s Mike Tirico. Jordan didn’t mince words in declaring his disdain for the practice.
“Well, it shouldn’t be needed, first and foremost,” Jordan said. “You know, I never wanted to miss a game because it was an opportunity to prove. It was something that I felt like the fans are there that watch me play. I want to impress that guy way up on top who probably worked his ass off to get a ticket or to get money to buy the ticket.”
Tirico pressed Jordan on whether he really felt such a keen sense of loyalty when he got heckled by opposing fans, but Jordan countered that he did, for a different reason.
“Yeah, because I know he’s probably yelling at me, and I want to shut him up. You know, he’s calling me all kinds of names. I definitely want to shut him up. … You have a duty that if they’re wanting to see you, and as an entertainer, I want to show. Right?”
Sadly, most modern players disagree with Jordan’s outlook on the “duty” players have to “entertain” fans who purchase tickets, whether it’s to rest up for the playoffs or to reduce the risk of injury, missing games while physically able to play —a practice known as load management —has become commonplace in the NBA.
While some will point out that Jordan shouldn’t be the anti-load-management spokesman because he retired twice during his career, that’s fine. But Magic Johnson, who played in the same era, played in no less than 72 games in all but one of his first 12 seasons in the league.
In addition, his archrival, Larry Bird, played in no less than 74 games per year in his first nine seasons before an injury reduced him to six games in year ten.
And, just for the sake of argument, Jordan played all 82 games nine times in his 15-year career, including one complete season at the age of 39. So, to put it into perspective for those who want to talk about Jordan’s retirements, he completed five of those 82-game seasons before his first retirement. He also had another season where he played 81 games before his retirement.
LeBron James has played exactly one 82-game season in his entire 22-year career.
So, whether anyone believes Jordan is the best advocate to make this point is immaterial. The point—and his larger point—is that players of his era played if they were healthy.
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