Aaron Gordon calls out NBA to give more rest during playoffs

The NBA playoffs are grueling for everyone involved, from the trainers to the coaches to the Aaron Gordon’s and Nikola Jokic’s. The level of physicality is ramped up, the stakes are higher and the best players tend to play more minutes than they would on a Monday night in Charlotte. Throughout the 2025 playoffs, while the physicality has been great, the players haven’t gotten enough rest to stay in the game.

The grade 2 hamstring strain that Aaron Gordon suffered late in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals was proof that his body wasn’t being given enough time to recuperate in between games, and even though he played like a true warrior out on the floor in Game 7 against Oklahoma City despite being on one leg, he was nowhere near his true self.

“I would really, really appreciate it if there a couple of days in between days in the playoffs, instead of every other day, regardless if you go seven games,” Gordon said after the Nuggets got blown out in Game 7. “I understand if you do your work early and you get first seed and you can have some time off, but I think the days in between games, not just an off day and a travel day, but a travel day and a recovery day. Just two days, I think the product of the game would be a lot better.”

Take a look at all the injuries that happened to high-profile players throughout these playoffs on top of Gordon’s hamstring. Steph Curry strained his hamstring, Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum both blew out an Achilles, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley were dealing with ankle problems, Luka Doncic tweaked his back, Jimmy Butler had a hip issue — the list goes on and on.

Of the Nuggets 14 playoff games, only four of them came on more than a day’s rest (one of which was the playoff opener in which every non-Play In team had multiple days of rest). Nine of them came on the standard 48-hour rest cycle while one, Game 4 against the Thunder, came on a ridiculous 41 hours of rest after a late game on Friday and an afternoon game Sunday.

The other side of the argument is that if there were more days of rest in between playoff games, then the playoffs would almost certainly bleed into July, making the season far too long for the final two teams at the top of the mountain. The counter to that is shortening the regular season to 66 games (which was successful in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season) or 72 games (which was successful in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season).

The NBA doesn’t need 82 games. This season, with the race in the Western Conference coming down to the wire, was an outlier that backed up the need for an 82 game season. Even so, that race could’ve been settled in fewer games, allowing the playoffs to start earlier and the players to get more rest.

“I think there’d be just a better product on the floor just to give all these professional athletes one more day of rest, and you would see a higher level of basketball, probably less blowouts,” Gordon said.

However, Adam Silver’s NBA is all about making the most amount of money possible for the league (and the WNBA), and playing less games would certainly be a decision that results in less money. With the playoffs every season being which team can stay healthier for the longest, would it warrant a change from Silver and the league’s front office to potentially shorten the season to allow for more rest in the playoffs? Or would the loss in revenue be too much of a negative factor to not consider it?

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