Denver Nuggets Get Lucky With Controversial NBA Rule

The NBA has officially enacted a rule against healthy star players sitting out games. The rule prohibits teams from resting two or more star players at the same time, with the obvious exception of legitimate injuries. While this rule impacts several of the NBA's contenders, it will not affect the defending champion Denver Nuggets very much.

While both Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are certified stars in the NBA, the league is defining a star player as someone who has made an All-NBA or All-Star team in the last three seasons. Because Murray has never been an All-Star or All-NBA team member, the Nuggets got a lucky exemption from this rule.

Jokic of course meets the NBA's description of a star player, but because Murray does not, the Nuggets won't have to worry about navigating rest days for either of their two best players. This is a lucky break for Denver, especially when it comes to the final weeks of the season when top seeded teams often choose to rest their stars.

The one element of this new rule that does impact Denver, and every other team with a star player, is the national television game aspect. The NBA does not want star players resting national television games, and the defending champions have several of them.

It will be interesting to see how the NBA enforces this new policy, especially with teams often listing their players out for injury management as opposed to rest.

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