NPDS - LeBron, Jokic, Giannis, Wemby and the 65-game rule! MORE Spring Training injuries! (Episode 1413 Hour 1)

Le Batard & Friends Network

Dan Le Batard

Sports

4.9 • 8.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 February 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

NO SHOW MONDAY - BUT WE WILL HAVE A SHOW TUESDAY! Today’s word of the day is ‘offload’ as in load management as in the NBA as in the 65-game rule as in awards as in All-NBA. The NBA has a problem. Well, multiple problems. SO many star players are missing games because of soft tissue injuries and can no longer be eligible for regular season honors. LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Nikola Jokic is a few games away. Wemby is a few games away. Steph Curry is a few games away. Kawhi is a few games away. (15:25) More injuries coming out of Spring Training. We have three hamate bone ones. Francisco Lindor, Corbin Carroll, and Jackson Holliday are all ruled out with the same injury. Another 6-8 week one, that could take longer than that to heal. (23:03) Could President Trump get involved in MLB labor negotiations? It could happen. But at what cost? (32:13) Review: Nuremberg. (35:04) NPPOD. (38:40) Let’s talk about Scott Boras. (46:20) The decision of LA28 Olympics. Let’s discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Offload. That's the nothing personal word of the day. It is Thursday, February 12th,
0:44.3	2026. We are offloading. We're talking about load management. We're talking about LeBron James. We're talking about Nicola Yokic. We're talking about
0:56.1	the NBA. And this is, we could have used pile on, because we're going to pile on. Yeah,
1:03.7	no, let's stay with offload. Do you remember when Adam Silver came up with the cure to load management and the issue while he was negotiating the huge television contracts that Scott Boris is so jealous of?
1:21.3	And one of the issues is, hey, how come superstars aren't playing? Don't worry, we have a plan.
1:27.1	Superstars have to play when it's a national game.
1:30.1	But if it's not a national game,
1:31.9	then you can rest under the guise of load management
1:35.4	as long as it's cleared, approved.
1:38.0	Otherwise, there could be fines,
1:39.8	and the organizations get fined,
1:42.6	sometimes coaches, players.
1:45.0	It's a whole McGillah.
1:48.4	But Adam Silver had the plan.
1:50.3	He did the math and said, 65, that's the number.
1:54.2	I would have chosen 69, but he chose 65.
1:57.1	He said, players have to play 65 games in order to be considered for postseason awards.
2:04.7	MVP, defensive player of the year, all NBA.
2:09.8	At the time, the conversation was, that seems right.
2:13.5	All of the Jordan lovers said, what are you talking about?
2:15.9	Jordan would play 81, whether he was sick or not.
2:20.0	No such thing as load management back in those days. And believe me, the NBA was a harder game to play for the players, much harder than it is today.
	...

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