Why dont players average 40+ minutes a game anymore?

[ManBearPig]

1999-00 Regular Season NBA Player Stats and League Leaders - Minutes - National Basketball Association - ESPN

I mean back then, there were 7 guys that were putting in at least 40 a game and there were even more than that back then. I think the last person to averaged more than 40 minutes a night was Monte Ellis when he was playing for Golden State.

I think its a good thing that they are protecting the players but I wonder if this was intentional

 

[Big Boss]

Players need rest

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Because the game is a lot faster today, and players cover more distance on every possession, more than ever.

 

[KOBE]

Because the game is a lot faster today, and players cover more distance on every possession, more than ever.

They also bang less in the paint and there's less physicality on defense(due to the rule changes) and thus get taxed less that way. This is a rather poor excuse.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

They also bang less in the paint and there's less physicality on defense(due to the rule changes) and thus get taxed less that way. This is a rather poor excuse.

That's because you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[Jplaya2023]

Because the game is a lot faster today, and players cover more distance on every possession, more than ever.

lol did the court magically become larger than say 10 years ago?

34 year old kobe was playing 39-40 minutes a night in 2013, i'd imagine if he played today he would play as much as he used it being in his prime.

 

[Long Live The Kane]

Shaq averaged over 40mpg

 

[Jplaya2023]

but to answer the thread coaches are "resting" guys more and trying to "save" them for their inevitable playoff loss to the warriors in whatever round they meet in.

 

[Torrential]

Popovich started the "save your players for the playoffs" wave. and other coaches caught on.

 

[ManBearPig]

Shaq averaged over 40mpg

I wonder how much calories did he eat a day since he was still fat

 

[BigTyme Records]

Better offensive execution, using more of the court, Better defense in this era, you have to fly around the court and cover more space to defend, thus players get tired faster

 

[BigTyme Records]

lol did the court magically become larger than say 10 years ago?

34 year old kobe was playing 39-40 minutes a night in 2013, i'd imagine if he played today he would play as much as he used it being in his prime.

Kobe didn't play defense in 2013, so he rested on the court

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

lol did the court magically become larger than say 10 years ago?

34 year old kobe was playing 39-40 minutes a night in 2013, i'd imagine if he played today he would play as much as he used it being in his prime.

With the increase in 3-pt activity, players are forced to cover more ground to defend those shots (especially big men who never used to defend out on the perimeter as often as today) - same applies to the other end with players running further out to the 3-pt line. This of course ties into the fact that today's offensive systems are more complex, with more moving parts too. You don't just have 1-2 players on one side of the floor in the play, while everyone else stands around - today everyone is moving, all the time.

I honestly don't know why basic ass shyt like this needs to be stated.

 

[King Musa]

Better offensive execution, using more of the court, Better defense in this era, you have to fly around the court and cover more space to defend, thus players get tired faster

 

[Mantis Toboggan M.D.]

Popovich started the "save your players for the playoffs" wave. and other coaches caught on.

It’s not just that. Once the zone was allowed, teams had to work harder to get into the paint and over the last few years especially have developed much more complex sets on offense with much more motion. This means the defense has to work much harder chasing players around too. Before the zone was allowed and even for a few years afterwards, offenses were still pretty basic with the sets they ran. We still saw a lot of post up plays and isolation. On those plays mentioned, you’d see 4-8 guys basically standing in position for 10-15 seconds getting to catch a breather during a post up while two guys go at it. That’s a lot less common now and guys don’t play 40+ minutes these days since it’s much more taxing than it used to be. I think LeBron led the league in minutes last year at 37 per game. I’m sure the numbers will show it’s much more beneficial to the players to play the 34-37 minute range compared to 38-44 minutes like stars used to. @Gil Scott-Heroin detailed it too, but unless you regularly watch off the ball, you might not notice this stuff. A lot of basketball viewers tend to follow the ball when watching.