Warriors testing NBA rules by sitting stars for high-profile game

Prime Video looked like it had premium matchups for its first Friday doubleheader of 2026. Thanks to injuries and an aggressive load-management decision by the Golden State Warriors, the games have lost a lot of luster.

Nikola Jokic's knee injury kept him out of the Denver Nuggets' game against the Cleveland Cavaliers — which his team lost, 113-108 — and likely the whole month of January. But the Warriors sat Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler for their battle with the Oklahoma City Thunder, a move that looks a lot like ducking the defending champions on the first night of a back-to-back.

Steph Curry's injury is the lone unquestionable Warriors absence

Curry visibly tweaked his ankle late in the Warriors' New Year's Eve win over the Charlotte Hornets. With his career-long history of ankle ailments, it's understandable the team would want to give its 37-year-old guard extra rest.

For Butler and Green, the justification is flimsier. Butler is subject to the NBA's policy preventing teams from resting stars on nationally televised games since he was an All-Star in the last three seasons. He's out with an unspecified illness, with the team calling him "under the weather." Green is simply resting, which is permitted under the policy, but likely not a decision Amazon likes.

All three of those Warriors are on the wrong side of their 35th birthdays, and the team plays the 12-21 Utah Jazz Saturday night — a far easier matchup than the 29-5 Thunder. It might be a wise strategy for the long-term success of the Warriors, who primarily want to have their team healthy for the postseason, but it's bad for the NBA's TV product.

Steve Kerr is a load management expert

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had a longtime mentor in former San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who was a trend-setter when it came to resting veterans. He and the Spurs were once fined for sitting out players in a game the Spurs won by 26 points.

The NBA has taken steps to discourage "load management" by assessing fines when teams rest All-Stars and by making it so that players have to suit up for 65 games to qualify for awards consideration. Ultimately, teams have been willing to pay six-figure fines and players to risk losing All-NBA berths to diminish their injury risk in the NBA's 82-game, travel-filled season.

Butler's illness might be hard for the NBA to classify as illegitimate. It's harder to determine the degree of "under the weather" to make a player unable to suit up, rather than Curry's ankle problem, clearly visible on the game broadcast. The Warriors are likely to escape any discipline, which doesn't make the decision less of a shame.

The NBA had a unique opportunity for a Friday night that's not competing with the College Football Playoff or the NFL. Instead of getting the young Thunder facing a squad of future Hall of Famers, it's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren versus Pat Spencer and Brandin Podziemski. This can't be what Amazon imagined when it was bidding for its piece of the NBA's broadcast package.

Most likely, the NBA is going to whiff on a golden opportunity to showcase its game.