Observational studySports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2026
The Relationship Between Games Missed for Rest or Load Management and Injury in the National Basketball Association, 2014-15 Through 2022-23.
Observational study in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOne often-stated aim of load management in elite athletes is injury reduction. However, current literature on the efficacy and effectiveness of specific load management strategies to reduce injury risk is limited.
objectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between missing regular season games for rest or load management and subsequent injury in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
methodsA 9-year observational analysis of a select group of NBA players participating in each of the 2014-15 through 2022-23 seasons was conducted using the NBA Injury and Illness Database. Standardized, league-wide player participation and health information rules require reporting of any game missed due to injury, illness, rest, or load management. The main outcome was a game injury that resulted in two or more games missed consecutively. Hazard ratios were calculated using the Anderson-Gill modification of the Cox proportional hazards model. Injury rate ratios were calculated using Poisson regression. Analyses were adjusted for age, number of prior injuries, games missed due to injury or other reasons, and average minutes played per regular season.
resultsA total of 1233 player-seasons contributing 1,538,917 player-minutes of NBA game play were included. From 2014-15 to 2022-23, games missed for rest, load management, or 1-game absences increased by 125% (+ 211 games), and 2+ consecutive games missed injuries increased by 43% (+ 61 injuries). Among players who missed games for rest or load management (n = 129,578 player-minutes), there was no significant difference in injury risk compared with players who did not miss games for rest or load management (n = 1,409,339 player-minutes; 1-2 games missed: hazard ratio [HR] = 1.24, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.92-1.65; 3-5 games missed: HR = 0.91, 95% CI 0.39-1.80; 6 or more games missed: HR = 2.16, 95% CI 0.53-5.78).
conclusionsNBA players who missed regular season games for rest or load management did not have a decreased risk of subsequent injury in the same season. Further studies that add assessment of training and internal loads will offer additional insights.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.