The NBA has a 'missing stars' problem with injuries piling up faster than normal

The NBA is on pace to miss over 1,000 games this season .

Tyrese Maxey , Zion Williamson , Kevin Durant and Chet Holmgren have all been sidelined this past week .

Star players have missed 83 games already, up from last season’s total of 67 at the same juncture.

LeBron James has stated that he intends to play all 82 games this year .

ESPN games in the opening weeks of the season have seen a 34% decline from the comparable point last year .

NBA has tried to fix with fewer back-to-backs, deeper medical staffs and a longer All-Star break.

But there’s another problem that has been equally hard to manage: the mushroom cloud of backlash stemming from those absences.

The Sixers' situation feels eerily similar to the massively hyped Brooklyn Nets triumvirate of Kevin Durant , Kyrie Irving and James Harden .

The more this happens, the less fans will care about the product.

The well-intentioned Player Participation Policy established ahead of the 2023-24 season has not had the same effect on players’ bodies as it did last season .