Written by Chris Haynes at ESPN.com
While Kevin Durant empathizes with fans over the controversy about NBA teams resting star players, he doesn’t see why commissioner Adam Silver is seeking to get team owners involved.
“The truth about it is, it’s only for a couple of players in the league,” Durant told ESPN. “They don’t care if the 13th man on the bench rests. It’s only for like LeBron [James], Steph [Curry], [James] Harden, Russell [Westbrook]. It’s only for like five players. So you want a rule just for those five players?”
Silver sent out a memo last week to the league’s owners, stating that resting marquee players has become “an extremely significant issue for our league,” and he urged them to be more hands-on in that decision-making process.
Durant, an All-Star forward for the Golden State Warriors who is recovering from an MCL sprain and tibial bone bruise, said he empathizes with both fans and players.
“Players, if anything, need a mental break sometimes. And sorry, they’re human,” Durant told ESPN. “They go through so much every single day. There are so many obligations off the court that you don’t know about. … It might not be a physical break, it might just be a reset mentally, and I get that.
“And I also get if I was a fan and could afford to get tickets, and I’m circling LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook on my calendar, I would want to see them play live. I would be disappointed as well. I see it from the fans’ perspective and the players’ perspective. I’m caught right in the middle.”
Curry sat out one game to rest, on March 11, when the Warriors also rested Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala. James has missed five games to rest and Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Kyrie Irving has missed four. They both sat out games recently, on March 4 and March 18.
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