The NBA is going through a very awkward struggle between certain NBA players and the Owners. The big issue at hand is  NBA players sitting out games so they can be healthy for the playoffs? Do players have a right to sit out? Are the best players sitting out messing up your fan experience? Are ratings important enough to make the players play?

I believe players should be able to sit out when they want. The man who’s at the center of all this controversy is NBA superstar Lebron James. Lebron especially has earned the right to sit. Playing 14 years in the league and has played 1055 games and 41027 minutes in that span. So many games can take a toll on a humans body. Lebron chooses to rest not because he doesn’t care about the game, but because he wants to keep himself as fresh as possible for the playoffs. Other players specifically on the San Antonio Spurs have been resting players for years. The regular season doesn’t matter as much as the playoffs, and older teams need everyone to be healthy. The decision to rest players comes down to the playoffs and increasing your chances at winning a NBA championship.

I believe their is many ways the NBA can solve their resting players controversy. Commissioner Adam Silver needs to put some restrictions on how many games non injured players are allowed to rest. Injuries or players recovering from an injury should be able to rest as many games as possible. Non injured players should have a rule of a certain number of games you are allowed to sit out. Also you shouldn’t be able to sit out against the same team more than twice in a season. If you only play the team twice then only sit out against them once. This rule will only go for players with non reported injuries. Also every player should have to play in the nationally televised games. Those games have the largest viewing audience and should have the highest quality of play possible.

In an interview with ESPN, sleep scientist Dr. Charles Czeisler suggested “playing on a back-to-back is like trying to compete on an empty stomach–it doesn’t work.” Players are like a tire, to much tread on them and they do not work. One study provided to ESPN showed that injuries were 3.5 times more likely on the second night of a back-to-back played on the road. Teams invest millions of dollars into these players and they don’t want to see them get hurt and potentially waste their money on them.

Everyone who agrees with players resting also see the other side of the argument. Some people travel from all over the world, spending over 500 dollars to go to a game and their favorite player isn’t even playing. How disappointing that must be to them. Watching mediocre talent instead of all star caliber talent. It’s a waste of time and money.

The league can’t solve this problem overnight. Their are too many variables at hand for everyone to be happy with a solution. Can players survive a 82 game season? Should they play all the prime time games and be able to sit any of the other games? Their is no way to make everyone happy, I think everyone just needs to let the players do what they want. They are the one’s playing and should be able to decide what they want to do.