WNBA head coach Becky Hammon won't apologize for resting star players in nationally televised games.
On Sunday, the Las Vegas Aces rested superstars A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young for the reigning champions’ marquee matchup with the New York Liberty. Load management is very much a thing in the NBA, and now it appears to be a thing in the WNBA, too.
Due to the length of the schedule, and players needing more time to rest and recover - prioritizing the postseason - teams will often rest their star players when the opportunity presents itself.
That's the case, even in nationally-televised games.
© David Butler II-Imagn Images.
Hammon, though, won't be apologizing.
The WNBA head coach defended the resting strategy on Sunday, while speaking to reporters.
Becky Hammon defends resting strategy
“Everybody has a brutal schedule at some point,” Hammon said while speaking during her pregame media availability. “I don’t even think they do this in the NBA, though, where it’s less than 24 hours. You can check, but I’m pretty sure that’s not even legal on the NBA side. You’d have to look it up, but I don’t recall. With the time change, it ends up being that.”
Hammon was pointing out that her team finished in Minnesota less than 24 hours prior to tipping off against the Liberty in Brooklyn, New York.
“But we’re going to always err on the side of health and safety for our players,” Hammon continued. “Not going to put them in any kind of jeopardy to get hurt when we’ve been expending a lot of energy and traveling a lot of miles back and forth, crisscrossing the country. So, it is what it is. I know these are big matchups, and these are what people want to see. But you should ensure that it’s fair.”
This is an issue across sports, but Hammon has made it clear where she stands.
