National criticism of Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard is unwarranted

Kawhi Leonard’s load management strategy has been making headlines since his time with the Toronto Raptors, but its continued use with the Clippers is causing a bit more of a stir.

Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors (newly minted) vice president of player health and performance, Alex McKechnie, first formulated a plan for managing his workload throughout the 2018-2019 season. Kawhi was working his way back from an injury that had kept him sidelined for the better part of a year and that had been at the center of his soured relationship with the San Antonio Spurs.

It was a situation that the league as a whole could look at and accept with at least a bit of understanding. The careful implementation of that load management strategy saw success at the highest level, as Kawhi led the Raptors to their first-ever NBA championship. So naturally, the LA Clippers are inclined to continue that program in LA.

Even with the success had in Toronto, though, Kawhi and the Clippers are facing national criticism for their continued management of Kawhi’s workload. The latest, and possibly most surprising, example of this coming from one of the NBA’s most beloved figures in Doris Burke:

In the clip from the Golic and Wingo show, there’s a lot to unpack. It begins with radio host Trey Wingo noting very incredulously that this matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks will be the second time this season that Kawhi has sat out due to load management (load management in air quotes). When asked her opinion on the situation, Burke begins by stating how unbelievable it is to her that Kawhi,

"“Doesn’t want to play against the reigning MVP and would rather play against Portland [the following] night on TNT.”"

This is pretty simple to address–Portland is one of the stronger teams within the Western Conference and one that could make a difference in playoff seeding; Milwaukee is an out-of-conference team and one that would likely see Kawhi taking on a larger workload. Basic logic would indicate to you that it makes more sense for Kawhi to play against the former. Whether or not either of the games is nationally televised (they both are) is irrelevant.

The more headline-grabbing quote, however, was when Burke continued on to say,

"“Kawhi not playing, to me, is ridiculous at this point. I don’t understand it. He is a great player, he is compelling to watch; if you’ve watched any of his games, he’s been brilliant in the fourth quarter and won them a ton of games. And the Clippers obviously have a responsibility to Kawhi, to winning, and to the long-term.But the league also, I believe, is and should be concerned that their best players are not playing on nights when they’re on national television. The NBA ratings took a hit last year. People tune in because they want to see the stars who are so compelling.”"

Doris’ sentiment is likely representative of quite a few NBA fans. But with all due respect to those fans and DB herself, it comes off a little bit like a child kicking and screaming for dessert when they’ve not yet eaten their vegetables. Everyone wants to watch Kawhi Leonard play as much as possible. It’s a treat and a privilege to watch that man play the game of basketball. But we also want to be able to see him play at the highest level, come playoff time.

If you want that metaphorical dessert, you have to get through the portion of the meal that maybe isn’t as pleasant. It’s not so fun at the moment, but it’ll be more than worth it when Kawhi still has legs as the Clippers (hopefully) make their deep run into the playoffs.

ESPN host and former Duke Men’s Basketball star, Jay Williams, had this to say in response on Instagram,

"“We measure success in titles, not the regular season. As a fan, would you rather Kawhi plays every regular season game and not win a title or load manage and win a title? EXACTLY… Ask Raptors fans if they’re happy about their world championship.”"

A lot of the discontent that’s come with the managing of Kawhi’s workload likely has to do with a fundamental misunderstanding of what load management is, as well as why and how it’s employed. As if there’s no rhyme or reason to the it. There really is a huge amount of science and information that’s taken into account, though.

As stated by Alex McKechnie himself in an interview with Josh Martin of closeup360.com. McKechnie says,

"“People seem to think, ‘Okay, load management, you’re playing 60 games and that’s it,’” he tells CloseUp360 by phone from his office in Toronto. “It’s not about necessarily resting. It’s about managing the load, meaning exactly what it means.”As Alex goes on to explain, managing a load refers to sustaining a consistent workload.“The one thing you want to try to avoid is a yo-yo effect,” he continues. “You’re working hard and all of a sudden, you’re doing nothing for a period of time, and then you’re working hard again. The tissues just don’t react well to that kind of load management.“So it’s about establishing a proper care pattern for each player, and understanding when to rest and when to continue working. And there’s a science to that and there’s an art to it. And you have to blend them both.”"

There will be plenty of times this season in which we’ll all be a little bummed out that Kawhi or Paul George are sitting out games. But it should be understood that there’s nothing random or superfluous about it. It’s not being done because Kawhi or any of the other players just feel like taking a night off here and there. The nature of an NBA schedule is simply not ideal for the sustained health of any player, much less those that see as much use as Kawhi Leonard.

A carefully planned schedule of rest and recuperation provides a team the best chance at traversing that 82-game stretch and carrying a healthy roster into the postseason. As fans of the NBA and said superstars, that should be our priority as well.

If there is a problem to be addressed at any level, perhaps the NBA should take part in a little introspection and examine their schedule that would require players to miss games as a means of managing their heavy workload in the first place.