The NBA is facing a substantial amount of criticism after Kawhi Leonard sat out a marquee NBA game between the LA Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks which would have been a rematch between former (brief) Conference Finals rivals in Kawhi Leonard and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
People in support of load management see it as a strategy to preserve star players for when it matters most. NBA analyst Ryan Hollins is on record saying:
Critics of Hollins like Rob Parker think about the toll it takes on the fanbase who pay a lot of money to watch their favorite athlete live on the hardwood.
Parker has even gone as far as to say that this borders on consumer fraud.
A few days ago, Earl Watson tweeted about how load management isn't necessarily based on the toll of the regular season. He believes it stems from youth athletics, where kids are playing 12-15 games a weekend to validate the monthly fees of travel basketball programs like AAU.
Watson's comments prompted LeBron James to say the following in a candid interview with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports:
“These kids are going into the league already banged up, and I think parents and coaches need to know [that] … well, AAU coaches don’t give a f- - -,” James told Yahoo Sports. “AAU coaches couldn’t give a damn about a kid and what his body is going through.”
Doug Gottlieb, who also coaches AAU thought this was the most misinformed thing LeBron James could say and in the audio below, explains how he found his comments to be flat out "Dumb."
Doug Gottlieb: "Does anybody understand what LeBron James is doing? And maybe he's so big he can't piss anybody off, but there's no factual data to point that out. I'm sure there are coaches who don't care, but if you're good or a college-level player, THEY ABSOLUTELY CARE!
Nobody gets rich coaching AAU Basketball, LEBRON. This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. He Continues to utter absolute nonsense, and people just drink it up like it's soup...There're some guys that make six figures coaching AAU basketball, but that's not rich, not in Southern California, and it's WORK. You have to take care of the kids; otherwise, they will go elsewhere — another dumb misinformed statement from LeBron."