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The current "load management" debate is simply not rooted in science or medicine. A major factor: Many players now enter the NBA with badly broken bodies. I reported on this massive crisis over a two-year period.

This was not always the case. Decades ago, players didn't specialize. They played multiple sports. They took summers off. They had "normal" childhoods. Now, kids begin playing as young as 8 years old, and they play all year from then on. That mileage adds up -- in an awful way.

This whole movement involves millions of kids. It's taxing on orthopedic surgeons, some of whom now repair torn ACLs and Achilles ruptures on children under 10 years old. The NBA is tough enough on the body. An already broken body? It's so much worse.

Simply saying that one era was "tougher" than the current era is shortsighted. So much has changed. Just ask team doctors and athletic trainers. Ask NBA GMs. Ask youth coaches and orthopedic surgeons. This discussion must evolve for the better.

This is from part one of my two-part series, based on dozens of interviews w/ NBA team and league officials, current and former players, AAU coaches, parents, youth players, researchers and medical and athletic training officials in & around the NBA. It's the heart of the issue