Adam Silver says uptick in NBA injuries is partly because American kids play too many games, don’t practice enough

Injuries can be an unfortunate part of life as an NBA player. Basketball is a physically demanding sport, especially for anyone playing it professionally. Those from role players to stars can get injured.

Commissioner Adam Silver has one interesting theory on why the NBA has seen an uptick in injuries. He said on Thursday that American kids compete in too many basketball games and don’t practice enough compared to Europeans, something he believes has contributed to the issue.

“I think that there’s sometimes too much of a focus on skill,” Silver said. “It’s not that they’re not working as hard — in some cases, I think they’re often too hard and need to be playing more sports at once. We think some of the injuries that our young players are experiencing are overuse injuries, not because they’re being too physical, but it’s from the repetition of certain things. And that’s why I think (NBA players from the 1980s and 90s), those players in the league also happened to be the best in every other sport in their schools (as children) because they play different sports depending on the season.”

With the popularization of AAU basketball in recent years, young basketball players in the United States have more opportunities to play the sport year-round. According to Next College Student Athlete, a majority of AAU tournaments are scheduled outside of the high school basketball season. That may contribute to the possible repetition issue that Silver referenced.

Plus, it’s not as if players get to relax once they make it to the NBA. The league’s regular-season schedule is a grind, with each team playing 82 games and plenty of back-to-backs.

Maybe it isn’t a coincidence that some of the NBA’s biggest young stars have been injury-prone for much of their time in the league, considering they grew up in an age where playing in an inordinate number of games was perhaps normalized.

Zion Williamson was a high school basketball star and also turned heads during his one season playing college basketball at Duke University. But he is in his sixth season as a member of the New Orleans Pelicans and has logged just 194 appearances since joining the league.

Chet Holmgren is another young star who has been plagued by injuries during his time in the NBA. He sat out the entirety of the 2022-23 season thanks to a foot injury, and he’s been limited to 10 games played so far in the 2024-25 season. Holmgren last played for the Thunder when the team lost to the Golden State Warriors on Nov. 10.

Seemingly, a step in the right direction toward ensuring that the next generation of NBA stars isn’t riddled with injuries could be to encourage young folks to take caution when it comes to how many games they play compared to how much they practice.