Mussatto: Why Thunder GM Sam Presti favors NBA's new player participation policy

Thunder general manager Sam Presti was quick to correct me at his preseason press conference when I asked him about the NBA’s new resting policy.

“Player availability policy,” said Presti, as if commissioner Adam Silver was watching from the back of the room.

Actually, it’s the Player Participation Policy, but close enough.

Last month, the NBA Board of Governors approved the new policy, which has a simple goal: “intended to promote player participation in the NBA’s regular season,” it states. The impetus for the policy? Too many star players sitting out in too many games to the detriment of the on-court product.

“I applaud the NBA for being very transparent about the fact that this is a business issue,” Presti said. “We have a business issue. They haven't hidden that. We obviously have TV deals that are in the future, and we have an issue where as a league at times our best players are not playing in some high-profile games.”

Everyone in and around the NBA acknowledges that star players sitting out is a problem. However, count me as skeptical that the new six-page policy is anything more than a half-measure by the league to appease its television partners. Credit to the NBA for trying, though, because this is a delicate situation without an obvious fix.

It’s hard to find common ground between load management and expecting guys to play 82 games if they’re healthy.

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“We like to say that people are resting because they're trying to prevent injury,” Presti said. “Sports science doesn't necessarily support this. I don't think we have enough information …

“I think injury is a very random thing. I think a lot of the resting is more based on trying to increase performance of the team later in the season because the schedule is different for every team, and depending on the level of your team, some teams are managing their roster like a pitching staff gets managed through (MLB’s) 162 games.”

Taking effect this season, the Player Participation Policy will focus on “star players,” which the NBA has defined as any player who was an All-Star or on an All-NBA team in any of the prior three seasons. After the All-Star break, new All-Stars will also be included in the “stars” category.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, both an All-Star and All-NBA player last season, is the Thunder’s only “star player.”

Under the policy, unless a team gets approval for a star player not to play, teams must:

1. Manage their rosters to ensure that no more than one star player is unavailable for the same game. (The Thunder doesn’t have more than one star player.)

2. Ensure that star players are available for all national television and NBA in-season tournament games. (The Thunder has 13 nationally televised games, five of which are on NBA TV.)

3. Maintain a balance between the number of one-game absences for a star player in home and road games. (“With a preference under the policy for such absences to occur in home games.” Fans in Toronto only get to see Shai Gilgeous-Alexander once. The league wants to show off its stars in every market.)

4. Refrain from any long-term “shutdowns” in which a star player stops playing games. (Remember when the Thunder and Al Horford agreed to a shutdown? It was mutually beneficial, but it wouldn’t be allowed under this new policy because Horford was a “star” player, having been an All-Star in one of the prior three seasons.)

5. If resting a healthy player, ensure that the player is present at the games and visible to fans. (If LeBron James is resting when the Lakers come to Oklahoma City, Thunder fans would at least like to see LeBron on the bench.)

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There are a number of exceptions, per the NBA policy, for “injuries, personal reasons and pre-approved back-to-back restrictions based on a player’s age, career workload or serious injury history.”

The NBA explained each exception.

Injuries, illnesses or other medical conditions will be excused if the star player misses the game immediately before or immediately after the game in question. An independent medical review is part of the compliance process.

The league also has “pre-approved back-to-back restrictions.” For example, players 35 and older as of opening night, and or players who have played more than 34,000 regular-season and playoff minutes, or more than 1,000 regular-season or playoff games, can get approval through their team via the league to sit.

There are several other caveats and clarifications in the six-page Player Participation Policy document, but the fines are pretty straightforward. Teams will be fined $100,000 for a first violation, $250,000 for a second violation and each successive violation will be $1 million more than the team’s previous penalty. A third offense, for example, would be $1.25 million.

“I think it's really important that the league and the teams and the players have all acknowledged it's an 82-game league,” Presti said. “We've got to do our best to do it every night, especially in the highest profile situations, because it's good for the game, it's good for the industry, and we can maybe curb (rest) a little bit.”

Resting policy, availability policy, participation policy. Whatever you want to call it, we’ll see if it works.

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder GM Sam Presti favors NBA's new player participation policy