Must-See 65: The plan to kill the NBA back-to-back and re-energize the sport’s biggest stars

It was well past midnight when the Philadelphia 76ers touched down in Charlotte. The star-studded team was in the middle of a back-to-back prepping for its league-high seventh game in just 12 days. You could call it an NBA “short night.” Friday night in Philadelphia: a 7:30 p.m. ET national TV game against the defending champion New York Knicks. Shower, bus, shuffle onto the team plane for a nearly 500-mile trip down the coast. At the earliest, lights out at 2 a.m. ET. Then Saturday: an early 6 p.m. ET tip against the Hornets on Halloween.

Of the 426 back-to-backs on the NBA schedule, this was the second-shortest turnaround with travel: 22 1/2 hours, with an overnight flight in between.

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Fans in Charlotte saw the cost. LeBron James and Joel Embiid jerseys filled the stands, but both James (sciatica) and Embiid (plantar fasciitis) were ruled out managing injuries on the second night of the back-to-back. Fans paid good money for tickets and TV packages, not to mention parking and concessions and merch, and expected to see them.

But don’t blame the players. Blame the schedule.

In my decade-plus covering the NBA, I have written about back-to-backs many times before. But as the 76ers sideline reporter for NBC Sports Philadelphia this season, I hadn’t experienced one quite like this. And it was only October. Hundreds more still litter the schedule. With injuries sweeping through the league’s stars — Stephen Curry (oblique) is now out multiple weeks — and fan trust at stake, the fix is overdue:

Ban back-to-backs and move to a 65-game schedule.

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The NBA has always sold its stars. Right now, the league is breaking that promise.

(Hayden Hodge/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

The 82-game grind claims another star

Anthony Edwards used to be a loud critic against load management. At his first All-Star appearance in 2023, the 21-year-old star responded to a question about the league’s hot-button issue.

“Just play, man,” Edwards said. “If you 80%, you gotta play. I don’t like all the sitting, missing games stuff. These people might have enough money to come to one game. And that might be the game they come to…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/must-see-65-the-plan-to-kill-the-nba-back-to-back-and-re-energize-the-sports-biggest-stars-162947766.html

Author : Tom Haberstroh

Publish date : 2026-11-13 15:22:00

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