NBA creating injury-prevention committee, NBPA makes related hire

Commissioner Adam Silver's commitment to finding a way to improve NBA player's health is extending beyond schedule tweaks or additional days off.

Following a season fraught with major injuries to marquee stars, the NBA has formed an injury-prevention committee, according to Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.

Haberstroh, a leading writer on player workloads, injury, prevention, and related technologies, explains:

The NBA has formed a committee to promote research into player health.
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The initiative is in partnership with GE Healthcare. It will be spearheaded by a 20-person strategic advisory board that will be comprised of team physicians and clinical researchers from various fields, including orthopedics, sports medicine, radiology and epidemiology.
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Though the board will not perform the actual research as a unit, the goal is to identify and design research projects that will help keep athletes on the floor through improved detection protocols and treatment programs.

With injuries costing Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose, and more stars at least 15 games - and injuries becoming a key talking point of the playoffs - the league appears to be making research into player health a keynote initiative.

Silver released the following statement in a larger release explaining the new program:

NBA players are among the best athletes in the world, and their well-being is the league's highest priority. Our support for medical research through our partnership with GE Healthcare will help us improve the long-term health and wellness of NBA players. We are also excited that this research collaboration will provide important insights to athletes at all levels.

Injury prevention and fatigue management have been agenda items for SIlver seemingly since taking over from David Stern in February 2014. It sounded as if the desire to find better practices hit a peak in the NBA Finals, and it's now leading to tangible action.

The committee will look into things like schedule density, scheduled length, air travel, and the impact those and other factors have on injuries, particularly fatigue-related or overuse injuries.

The NBPA has also taken a step toward the goal of healthier players, naming former Houston Rockets strength coach Joe Rogowski as their director of physiology and research. It's the first hire of that kind by the players union, according to Zach Lowe of Grantland.

Solutions may not be forthcoming in any immediate fashion, but research is important, and gathering additional information has never made a problem worse.