Recently, professional basketball in Korea has been embroiled in a high-intensity schedule controversy.
On the 11th, Seoul SK’s Choi Jun-yong complained to reporters after the game against Korea Gas Corporation in Daegu, “There are only 10 teams in the KBL,바카라 but each team plays 54 games. The schedule is tight.”
He pointed out, “I don’t seem to think about player protection when making a schedule. As we go into the second half of the season, there are a lot of injured people.”
In fact, the league with more regular league games than KBL is one of the best in the world. Among them, the representative league is the American professional basketball (NBA, 82 games).
As a result, a new practice called ‘road management’ (fatigue management) has recently emerged in the NBA.
In cases where there are concerns about fatigue or injury due to schedules such as games every day, we respond by giving star players a break.
It is a welcome thing for players whose bodies are their property, but controversy has intensified as it is pointed out that the satisfaction of the spectators is low.
On the 19th (Korean time), the day before the All-Star Game in the 2022-2023 season, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver met with reporters at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, and expressed his support for this practice.
It acknowledged the need to protect players during high-intensity schedules.
According to ESPN, Commissioner Silver said, “There is scientific and medical data on how good players run, so I hesitate to comment on it.”
“The reason is that our league has been like that for a long time, and NBA legends have played like that, but I don’t necessarily think that’s the case,” he said. “The idea of ’go out on the court and overcome injuries’ is not appropriate. Because we are human too, we struggle with various pains,” he pointed out.
However, he said that he is considering reducing the regular season immediately to reduce player fatigue.
The Silver Commissioner’s critical mind has actually been sporadically expressed in the professional basketball scene in Korea.
In particular, demands have been made to reduce the fatigue of players by reducing the number of games or increasing the season period.
On the 13th, coach Jeon Hee-cheol of SK, who played 6 games in 9 days from the 11th to this day, said, “It would be nice to extend the league period by two weeks.” tight,” he said.
In the case of SK, they have more schedules as they participate in the East Asian Super League (EASL), an Asian club competition that started this season.
Seoul Samsung coach Eun Hee-seok also said, “We can have a break by activating the cup competition during the season.
MBC Sports Plus commentator Kim Il-doo, who has been active in the pro for 10 seasons, said, “The story that Choi Joon-yong brought out continued to come out among the players,” and said, “It is necessary to publicize it.”
Commissioner Kim said, “It is difficult to publicize that one player is coming forward. It is difficult for a specific club to take the lead,” he said. .
In fact, Commissioner Silver said he was discussing the schedule with the NBA Players Association (NBPA).
In the meantime, the NBA has maintained an 82-game system, but has adjusted detailed schedules, such as minimizing consecutive games.
However, the silver commissioner did not give a sharp answer to the problem of this practice, such as the low satisfaction of fans and the calculation of an appropriate annual salary.
Fans who bought tickets in anticipation of meeting a star player would not want to hear about a sudden absence.
“I understand the fans’ point of view,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a better answer than the fact that the NBA is a very competitive league. The NBA is literally full of players trying to give it their all every night.”