Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters on Tuesday that he’s “very concerned” that the NBA’s increased pace of play is leading to an increase of injuries.
“[The Warriors’ medical staff] believes that the wear and tear, the speed, the pace, the mileage is factoring into these injuries,” he said.
“Across the league, everyone understands that it’s easier to score if you beat the opponent down the floor, get out in transition,” he continued. “But when everybody’s doing that, the games are much higher-paced. Everyone has to cover out to 25 feet because everybody can shoot threes. We have all the data. Players are running faster and further [than] before. We’re trying to do the best we can, but we basically have a game every other night. It’s not an easy thing to do.”
All of the data points to the general speed of play being higher this season than ever before.
The league has seen a number of star players miss time with injuries in turn. And as long as the 82-game schedule remains, teams will be tasked with trying to find a way to keep its players as healthy as possible.
