The club owners of the North American professional basketball league NBA have decided on stricter rules and higher penalties for resting star players.
The league defines a star player as anyone who was on an NBA All-Star or All-NBA squad in the three previous seasons, or was named to the All-Star Game in the same season.
According to ESPN and The Athletic, the vote on the so-called Player Participation Policy gives the league office more power to sanction violations: the first violation will result in $100,000, the second $250,000, and the third one million. However, there should be exceptions that are linked to a certain age or number of career games. Healthy players resting for a game must be visible to spectators and at games.
Under new rules recommended by the NBA Competition Committee, teams cannot exclude a star player or use him in a way that compromises the integrity of the game.
This integrity of the league could be interpreted as threatened if teams no longer use their stars and accept a defeat in order to improve their own prospects in the talent lottery of the NBA draft after missing the playoffs. This so-called “tanking” is frowned upon, but it has been practiced again and again in the past.
The interests of the NBA’s media partners also played a role.