NBA Legend Blasts Today’s Stars Over Load Management: “MJ, Kobe, Isiah Wanted You Dead!”
EN 
ES Former NBA champion John Salley didn’t hold back in a recent interview, calling out today’s NBA stars for taking too many games off and lacking the killer mentality that defined legends like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Isiah Thomas.
Salley, who played alongside the likes of Jordan and Isiah, drew a sharp contrast between the modern NBA and the era he competed in.
“[Isaiah, Jordan, Kobe, Shaq] They wanted you dead. Period. And then they’d want to resurrect you just to kill you again,” Salley said on The OGs Podcast.
Salley made it clear that the biggest change he sees in today’s NBA is the rise of load management — where players sit out games to preserve their health, even when they aren’t injured. That concept didn’t exist in his day.
“They love the game so much that they were not going to take a night off. Isaiah took a night off because he literally called Malone cut his eye MJ I have never, and you can check MJ, didn’t have any, I don’t remember him ever having days off, Kobe either. Kobe had to tear something for him, not In the game“
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Salley also recalled how tough the schedule used to be — with teams flying commercial flights and playing back-to-backs on minimal rest. Yet stars still showed up every night.
“When I first got in the league, we flew commercial. Imagine having to get up at 5 a.m. for a 7 a.m. flight and still playing a game that night. That was a full-time job.”
John Salley’s bold remarks come at a time when load management has become one of the NBA’s most hotly debated issues. Fans and analysts alike have grown frustrated watching star players sit out healthy — something nearly unheard of in the eras of Jordan and Kobe.
Since the start of 2023, several of the NBA’s brightest young stars — including Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, and LaMelo Ball — have struggled with availability, each playing fewer than 130 games over that span.
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