The Cost of Competing: When Rest Becomes a Luxury in Professional Sports The Las Vegas Aces' decision to rest their top players, A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young, on Sunday against the New York Liberty was a pragmatic one, born out of necessity rather than luxury.
With a brutal schedule that has seen them travel over 2,400 miles in just five days, the team's coaching staff had little choice but to prioritize their players' health.
The NBA's scheduling policies aim to mitigate the physical toll of back to back games by avoiding consecutive nights with less than 22 hours between games and refraining from booking two time zones in a row.