The concept of load management is all the rage in the NBA these days, which is to say a number of teams are giving players calculated rest and some people are raging about it online. Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers drew the ire of the NBA after Doc Rivers admitted Leonard is “healthy” despite a reported knee injury.
In the other home locker room at Staples Center is LeBron James, another big proponent in load management. And he’s making it clear that the concept is important for players of all ages, not just superstars beginning to recognize the signs of aging and the wear and tear overuse can have on the body. In an interview with Yahoo’s Chris Haynes, James advocated for load management to start at a much earlier age, especially for players who go through the rigors of AAU and endless seasons of ball early on.
“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 said. “AAU coaches couldn’t give a damn about a kid and what his body is going through.”
James cited his own experience with his sons playing AAU, sometimes five games a day, something he called “f*cking out of control.” It’s made James listen more to his kids and how they feel more than what their coaches or schedules dictate.
“Because a lot of these tournaments don’t have the best interest of these kids, man. I see it. It’s like one time, they had to play a quarterfinal game, a semifinal game and a championship game starting at 9 a.m., and the championship game was at 12:30 p.m. Three games. I was like, ‘Oh, hell no.’ And my kids were dead tired. My kids were dead tired. This isn’t right. This is an issue.”
James noted his own experiences playing weren’t as severe as the conditions kids play in these days, with tournaments stretching long hours and featuring endless basketball with little recovery time.
“It didn’t affect me. But now that I look back on it, I don’t know,” James told Yahoo Sports. “But there are way more tournaments, there are way more showcases now compared to when I played. We didn’t have the EYBL [Nike Elite Youth Basketball League] circuits. We had certain national tournaments. But we didn’t have the circuits and multiple tournaments that go on now. The EYBL is great. They only play like one or two games a day. But there’s some other tournaments in these cities where they’re playing four or five games a day and that’s just not good. I don’t care what nobody says.”
His disdain for specialized basketball trainers offering young kids little return on their investment is well known, but James isn’t mad at the concept of AAU in general. He just worries that kids are getting bad advice about what’s the best thing to do as they develop, and it could risk their health in the process.
“I don’t know. That’s a longer conversation with the league. I think it’s just based on if [parents] know you have a special kid or some special kids, you can’t be putting them in every f—ing tournament just because people want to see them,” James told Yahoo Sports. “But like I said, these coaches don’t give a damn about these kids. I care about my kids. I don’t put my AAU kids in every tournament. We probably play like five or six tournaments a summer.”
James is big into players advocating for themselves over the demands of coaches and governing bodies. His comments on the NCAA and other organizations make it clear that players need to watch out for themselves and not be afraid to say something when they’re being treated unfairly. Playing a lot when you’re young is a great way to get good at basketball and be seen by the people that can make a career a reality, but James is making it clear that overuse is a problem at all levels. Whether it changes anything is unknown, but don’t expect to see LeBron’s kids playing five games in a day anytime soon.
