How NBA's new resting rule could affect LeBron James, Lakers

The definition of a "star player" is any player who has made an All-Star or All-NBA team in the past three seasons.

For the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James and Anthony Davis meet this criteria, so this new measure will have a significant impact on how the team manages its health for the 2023-24 season.

Over the past three seasons, either because of injury or load management, James has played in 45, 56 and 55 regular-season games. Davis, meanwhile, has played in even fewer regular-season games (36, 40 and 56).

James, who will turn 39 on Dec. 30, is coming off a major foot injury that kept him sidelined for multiple weeks near the end of last season. Davis, 30, dealt with his own foot injury earlier last season.

Resting mitigates the risk of an injury to a certain degree by giving the body more time to recover. However, by limiting the number of rest days available to the team, the NBA might actually be increasing the risk of an injury.

In addition, the provision restricting a team's ability to rest its stars during nationally televised or in-season tournament games disproportionately affects the Lakers. The team is set to have 28 nationally televised games — the second most this season.

However, there is one interesting wrinkle to this resting measure for players who are 35 years and up, per ESPN's Bobby Marks.

The NBA will allow pre-approved designated back-to-back allowances for players who are 35 years old on opening night or have career workloads of 34,000 regular-season minutes or 1,000 regular-season and playoff games combined, sources said.

This is a silver lining for the Lakers as James fits squarely into this category, so  he will have more rest opportunities.

Under new rules, teams would be fined $100K for a first violation, $250K for a second violation and $1 million more than the previous penalty for each additional violation, sources tell ESPN.

Health should be the main focus for the Lakers this season. While the financial penalties may be high, the Lakers — the third most valuable NBA franchise at $5.9 billion, per Forbes — are in a good position to afford them, especially if it means James and Davis are healthy come playoff time.