A few weeks back following Victor Wembanyama’s torrid start, NBC flexed the November 18 game between the San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies onto national television. But Wemby was in street clothes at tip-off after straining his calf last week — and he wasn’t alone on the bench. 2024 Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle (hip flexor strain) and Dylan Harper (calf strain), the second overall pick in the 2025 Draft, were also inactive for the Spurs. Meanwhile, Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant was also out, nursing a — you guessed it — calf strain.
This is not what NBCUniversal had in mind when it dropped $2.5 billion per year to get back into the NBA business.
If it seems like the NBA’s top stars are missing more games with injuries this season, it’s because those top stars are in fact injured.
According to Tom Haberstroh of Yahoo! Sports, NBA stars (he assigns the term to those who’ve made an All-Star or All-NBA Team in any of the past three seasons), have participated in just 67.6% of games this season, down from 87.2% through 12 games in 2023-24.
Trae Young, Anthony Davis, and Zion Williamson, all among the 50 Best NBA Players right now, have barely played since opening night. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Paolo Banchero, and OG Anunoby, recently joined them on the shelf. Jalen Green and Jrue Holiday have also missed substantial time. Kyrie Irving is out until early 2026. Damian Lillard and Tyrese Halliburton have both been ruled out for the season, and it’s undetermined whether Jayson Tatum will be back.
The majority of these DNP’s are from the rash of soft tissue injuries — calf strains, groin pulls, hamstrings, torn Achilles and ACL’s — that have plagued the NBA this season.
What’s causing this wave?
Dr. Robert Klapper, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon based in Los Angeles who has treated professional athletes, told Complex he believes it’s a result of the increased pace of the game and the proliferation of the 3-point shot.
Klapper says these soft tissue injuries are “because of the [Mike] D’Antoni world we live in now,” he says, referring to the former coach whose Phoenix Suns teams from the mid-2000s are credited with popularizing the pace-and-space offense that leads to more possessions and 3-point field goal attempts.
According to ESPN Research, the games are being played at their quickest pace since the 1988-89 season and players are running further and faster than ever before, or at least since player tracking started in 2013-14. The average NBA game now features 10 possessions more than a game from 1997. Teams are also attempting 37.3 3-pointers per game, up from 14.9 in 2003-04, the season the Suns hired D’Antoni.
“Steph Curry, who is a joy to watch, you have to guard him at the 3-point line because if you don’t, he’s going to shoot from way behind the 3-point arc, and it’s typically going to go in. But these other schmendricks cannot make those shots, yet they do it anyway,” he says, using the Yiddish word for fools.
Missed 3-pointers often produce long rebounds which leads to fast break opportunities. “Now you’re running backwards to get back into transition,” Dr. Klapper says. “And in my opinion, you are eccentrically loading your calf and Achilles tendon in a way it’s not used to. It’s too much stress, eccentrically, on that muscle.”
Though older fans often lament the lack of physicality in today’s NBA, the game is much more demanding than in the past. It’s more difficult for a 7-footer to close out on a shooter than it is for them to bang for position in the post. Positionless basketball has resulted in defenses switching more than ever and teams are utilizing more full-court presses after noticing how effective it was for the Indiana Pacers in last season’s playoffs.
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has lobbied the league to switch to a 72-game schedule but that’s not realistic. Owners (and players) aren’t scaling back revenue. So, what can be done?
Dr. Klapper believes it’s on the players to adapt. “Most of these guys have been playing one sport since junior high school. That’s why these muscles are overloaded seeing the same stress. They need a break. Go play volleyball. Do more cross training,” he says.
“You have to address how you load the muscles; you need to specifically train for eccentric loading because the 3-point shot is not gonna go away.”