The Philadelphia 76ers arguably have the most potent and temperamental injury bug in the entire league. Time and time again, injuries have proven to be this franchise’s main Achilles’ heel, derailing their chances at making significant noise at the most inopportune times. To make matters worse, the NBA itself has not been very forgiving to them. Instead, the league has been blatantly unfair.
Just one month into the regular season, the 76ers already had four sets of back-to-backs, which is the second-most among all teams (trailing only the Warriors). Now, when the schedule came out a couple of months ago, it was already made known to everybody that Philly will be having the most back-to-backs this season, but this sheer imbalance gets even more vivid when compared to the relaxed slates other teams got.
As one fan pointed out in this tweet, the 76ers have one of, if not the most unforgiving schedule early on. Meanwhile, a team like the Rockets, who are widely considered to be championship contenders this season, is yet to encounter a back-to-back set.
The 76ers got screwed by the NBA with this unfair scheduling quirk
This is precisely the kind of partial scheduling that is drawing the ire of many teams. Just recently, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr ranted about the fact that Golden State already had a league-leading five sets of back-to-backs while also having to travel the most out of any team in the league.
The 76ers can definitely resonate with Coach Kerr on this one. It seems like the NBA has not been very strategic when it comes to equalizing the load which teams have in the regular season, and it is definitely leading to some unfair advantages and heightened risks of injury for some other ball clubs like PHilly.
Whoever made the schedule seems to have glossed over the fact that rest advantages are real in the NBA, especially now that teams are becoming more mindful about resting players from time to time, especially those with players having exhaustive track records with injuries.
The 76ers, for example, do not have the luxury of being able to play their returning stars without also having to sit them out due to these unreasonable back-to-backs. Nick Nurse and his staff have had to compensate by doubling down on Tyrese Maxey’s minutes.
If the league continues to jettison the idea of shortening the regular season, they should at least do their earnest to minimize back-to-backs or at least create a level playing field beacuse right now, this partiality is as clear as day. Even worse, the 76ers are put in a disadvantageous position with no clear way out.