In the 90s, load management was not something the Houston Rockets, or any team, employed as a strategy. It was first something that became widely used in the 2010s under Gregg Popovich to help Kawhi Leonard recover from his first season-ending injury.
Since then, it has become a hot topic of discussion among NBA fans. On NBC’s broadcast of the NBA on Tuesday, Michael Jordan was asked about his thoughts on load management.
“It shouldn’t be needed, first and foremost,” Jordan said to Mike Tirico. “I never wanted to miss a game because it was an opportunity to prove. It was something that I felt like the fans are there to watch me play. I want to impress that guy.”
The NBA Showtime crew, consisting of host Maria Taylor, Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, and Tracy McGrady, was asked about load management, and former Rockets forward McGrady had a different take than his counterparts.
Former Houston Rockets Forward Tracy McGrady Wished He Used Load Management
Both Carter and Anthony said they despised load management, claiming they would play as many games as possible as long as they were healthy. McGrady had a different take on it, claiming that it actually would have helped him prolong his career.
“So for me, I look at load management differently because it would have prolonged my career. But it would have been hard to tell me I can’t play tonight when I actually feel good.”
McGrady was someone who struggled with injuries during his NBA career. In six seasons with the Rockets, McGrady only played more than 7- games in a season twice. Having load management would have helped him stay fresher for a long NBA season.
McGrady detailed the issues he went to get through an NBA season.
“I actually got an epidural before every season to last me for six months to play basketball because I had a herniated disk in my back, and I dealt with that my whole career. So load management probably would have worked for me.”
The Rockets were built around McGrady and Yao Ming in the mid 2000s, and McGrady wasn’t able to stay healthy enough for them to do real damage in the playoffs. He contends that if load management was a widely used practice back then, he would have had a longer, more productive career.
Rockets Forward Tracy McGrady Differs From Michael Jordan in Load Management
Jordan truly hates load management. He explained his philosophy of why he played when he was physically able to every time there was a game.
“I wanted to impress the guy way up at the top who probably worked his — off to get a ticket or to get money to buy the ticket. I know he’s probably yelling at me and I want to shut him up.”
Jordan only had one major injury throughout his career, breaking his foot in his second season. McGrady seemed to have a major injury almost every season he played with Houston. He still was able to make seven All-Star teams, two first-team All-NBA teams, three second-team All-NBA teams, and two third-team All-NBA teams in his career.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Former Rockets Player Wishes He Used Load Management appeared first on Heavy Sports.