Twitter Fingers: LeBron James sounds off against condensed NBA schedule
The NBA is pushing to return to a normal schedule for the upcoming 2021-22 season, and LeBron James isn’t holding back his disapproval.
On Wednesday, James took to social media to express his frustration with the NBA’s plan to follow a traditional timeline of events this fall, with the players facing yet another condensed offseason.
On June 10, the NBA informed teams of key dates for the 2021-22 season, which included a regular-season start date of Oct. 19, via The Athletic.
This isn't the first time James has been critical of the rushed calendar, and his most recent remarks come in the wake of news that LA Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard is out indefinitely after suffering an ACL injury.
In a lengthy post, James said that the lack of time between the offseason ending and regular season beginning has been and will continue to be detrimental to players' health, pointing out that All-Stars like himself have suffered the most this postseason.
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The Clippers' Leonard joins the likes of Anthony Davis, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, Joel Embiid, Mike Conley, Trae Young, Jamal Murray, Donovan Mitchell, Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker – to name a few – as players affected by injuries in this year's playoffs, which is a dramatic increase from recent years.
The average number of players sidelined per game due to injury, non-COVID-19 illness or rest this season was 5.1 (includes both teams) – 5% higher than the previous highest level of 4.8, which came in the 2009-10 season, according to ESPN. All-Stars specifically missed 370 of a possible 1,944 games (19%), the highest percentage in a season in NBA history, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
The reported key dates for the 2021-22 season are:
- Sept. 28: Training camp starts
- Oct. 19: Regular season starts
- April 16: Playoffs start
- June 2: Finals Game 1
- June 19: Finals Game 7
- June 23: 2022 NBA Draft
If the NBA goes through with its plan, teams that don't make the playoffs will benefit from the nearly three-month break, while teams that make a run in the playoffs could suffer greatly, especially the two teams who make it to the Finals this year. The 2021 Finals are expected to start on July 8 (with the possible Game 7 on July 22), so those two teams will have less than 10 weeks to recover before training camp starts in September.
Players planning to compete in the Tokyo Olympics this summer (and the accompanying Olympic qualifying tournaments) will also have to endure a significantly shortened offseason as the league gets back to its regular schedule for next season.
However, on "Speak For Yourself, former NFL Pro Bowler Marcellus Wiley said James simply doesn't have a case to plead, even if he is sympathetic to what James is talking about.
"If you understand what happened this offseason in this condensed schedule, it was something that was mutually agreed upon," Wiley said. "Why was it mutually agreed upon? The same reason it's always mutually agreed upon. It's beneficial to all – money.
"So, LeBron James, you signed on to the dotted line just by your participation, just like the [National Basketball] Players Association did, just like the NBA owners did, to a condensed schedule. Why? Because you had to monetize your labor. It's simple as that."
Wiley wasn't the only person to react to James' comments, which drew attention across the sports world. Here is a sampling.
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