Sports 2 min read By Callum Montgomery
Early-season NBA injuries prompt calls to change pace of play and training
A Forbes column argues that a wave of early-season NBA injuries shows the league should slow the pace of games and rethink player training regimens.
A wave of injuries early in the NBA season has led one commentator to argue that the league should change how the game is played and how players are trained. Mark Medina, writing for Forbes in a piece dated November 6, 2026, points to the number of early-season injuries as the basis for his call for change.
Medina's central argument is that the league should modify the pace of play. The column suggests that the current tempo of games places heavy physical demands on players, and that adjusting it could reduce the strain behind the injuries. He also contends that training regimens need changes, presenting the two issues as linked: the way games are played and the way athletes prepare for them both bear on player health.
The column does not set out the specific rule changes it has in mind, and it is unclear whether any proposed pace adjustment would apply league-wide or only in limited circumstances. Nor does it detail the exact training changes it envisions. The piece is an argument rather than a report of a formal proposal, and it does not describe any league or team response.
The available material also does not include injury counts, the names of affected players, or the teams involved. No medical data or studies are cited to support the claim that pace and training are responsible for the injuries. The argument rests on the injuries themselves as the reason for reconsidering how the game is played and prepared for, rather than on quantified evidence presented in the piece.
As the season progresses, the question of whether the league will respond to calls of this kind, and whether any changes to pace or training would be formally considered, remains open. For now, the Forbes column adds to the debate over player health in the NBA by tying a run of early-season setbacks to broader questions about how games are played and how athletes are trained.
Source: forbes.com
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