By Evalyse Teruel
@redlineproject
AI disclosure: Notebook LM was used to create the podcast and video about this essay.
In sports, there are few stories that depict both the promise and heartbreak of a great athlete. Derrick Rose, is one of Chicago’s very own examples of this. At just 22 years old, Rose became the youngest player in NBA history to win the Most Valuable Player award. He quickly became a symbol of hope for the Bulls and for their fans. Although still very early in his career, he was already admired as one of the league’s most promising talents.
Just a year later, everything changed. In 2012, Chicago Bulls point guard, and star athlete, dropped to the floor, gripping his knee during game one of the NBA playoffs. This injury, a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), completely reshaped his career. His athleticism, speed and durability, were suddenly compromised.
Whether Rose had been overworked or pushed too far, too fast, is still heavily debated. The MVP was leading the Bulls through a lockout-shortened season, which forced teams to play more games in fewer days, shortening rest periods. His comeback attempts highlighted both physical rehabilitation and confrontation of mental well-being in professional sports.
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Rose’s story is a painful reminder of the importance of recovery, no athlete, even the most gifted, is built for limitless play. His story captures the immense strain that athletes today face as they fight to be treated as people rather than machines. The constant demand of modern sports has turned injury into an expected outcome.
Sports have always demanded peak physical performance, but modern schedules often amplify this demand, and doing so beyond reason. As a result, this pattern repeats across basketball, soccer, baseball, football and beyond.
Kevin Durant ruptured his achilles during the 2019 NBA Finals after he returned to play before fully recovering. Tyrese Haliburton faced a similar outcome after battling injuries and strains in his hamstrings, tearing his achilles in game seven of the NBA Finals. This pressure of loyalty to fans, teammates, and sponsors often outweighs loyalty to their own bodies.
Aaron Rodgers, one of the NFL’s most recognizable quarterbacks, tore his achilles just four plays into the 2023 season. Shohei Ohtani tore his UCL. Olympic athlete and gold medalist, Simone Biles has dealt with shoulder and ankle injuries, Lionel Messi has recurring hamstring strains, and Kawhi Leonard with chronic knee issues. Joe Burrow’s torn ACL prematurely ended his season with the Cincinnati Bengals. Even LeBron James, known for his durability, has battled injuries in recent years.
These few examples show a constant and disturbing trend in sports: Across every sport, athletes are being held back by fatigue and overuse. Elite athletes are falling victim to injuries, which not only sideline them, but sometimes take them out for good. This, combined with minimal recovery time, causes their bodies to break down under the intensity of their sports schedules.
Modern sports have never been faster, more competitive, or more demanding. An athlete’s brutal schedule, travel, and year-round training, pushes them beyond their mental and physical limits. While advancements in sports science and medicine improve, they have not solved the imbalance between training, competition, and rest.
One study found that injury related to sports and recreation increased 17 percent in 2024 alone. This rise comes with the leagues’ season expansions, increasing game and training intensity, and the “play through pain” culture promoted through sports. Players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were known for having competed through numerous injuries and illnesses. This perseverence, no matter how admirable, contributes to the normalisation of this systemic neglect of the league.
While the public celebrates endurance, the consequences can, and have been, career-ending. This expectation that athletes must perform at the highest level every night is not only unrealistic but dangerous, putting a great deal of strain on the mind and body.
Professional basketball and hockey players each endure a total of 82 games in a regular season, football players have 17, and baseball players face a total of 162. These numbers do not account for practice, conditioning sessions, travel days, preseason games, or postseason playoffs.
For athletes, there is rarely a true off-season. For many, the job doesn’t end with the sport. There are often media days and marketing events in which they appear in year-round, adding to the overall exhaustion. The physical demand of this schedule is extreme. Continuous competition prevents proper healing, which can lead to chronic injury and long-term conditions.
Hector Rabadan, a private sports performance coach, said, “Rest and recovery play a huge role in injury prevention and performance,” emphasizing that without the “proper training and care, the body will break down or burn out”. Still, rest and recovery remains an undervalued process in the culture of sports today.
Leagues and organizations typically justify the relentless schedules as “necessary,” risking the health of their players for revenue and entertainment. Framing it in this manner overlooks human cost. The NBA’s Bubble Season in 2020-21, where players competed with minimal rest, demonstrated how condensed schedule formats can increase the rates of injury.
ESPN reported that the average number of players sidelined per game due to injury, excluding illness (COVID-19), was 5.1, the highest average seen since tracking began in 2009. Similarly, the NFL’s addition of extra regular-season games has increased the rates of head trauma and injury.
“Football is a high-contact sport, injuries are somewhat expected,” Rabadan said. “Shorter seasons or longer rest periods may be a good way to help the body properly recover and help mitigate injury.”
Despite the growing research surrounding rest and recovery, the structure of sports still suggests that quantity is of more importance than the quality.
The combination of mental pressure, physical exhaustion, and long seasons creates an environment where injuries are seemingly inevitable. However, athletes are speaking and acting out against this culture. They argue that this should not be deemed normal. LeBron James, has been vocal about the unsustainable pace of the game, tweeting, “These injuries aren’t just ‘part of the game,’” serving as a powerful reminder that athletes shouldn’t tolerate or accept mistreatment at the cost of their minds and bodies.
Beyond the physical aspect, psychological strain plays an equal or sometimes deeper role in this system. The pressure to excel beyond limits is often overbearing. In 2021, Biles withdrew from the Olympics due to mental strain, encouraging the prioritization of mental well-being. These are strong messages for athletes, however, many still feel unable to follow suit.
We should be creating spaces where it’s clear that the well-being of athletes is prioritized above entertainment. Breaking this cycle of pressure can work to, more importantly, disrupt the trend of injury.
Ultimately, the issue is not the resilience of athletes but instead the harsh conditions of the system they are expected to play into. Modern sports have evolved into an industry that prioritizes performance, profit, and entertainment over the health and well-being of their athletes.
The physical and mental struggles athletes are subject to are a direct result of the structure of the leagues, treating individuals as expendable resources. The league, media and audience all play a crucial role in this cycle, and thus, play a crucial role in the future of it. Rather than maintaining these standards of dehumanization, we should demand change for our athletes.
FAQ: Athlete Health and Systemic Pressure
Q: What is driving the high rates of athlete injury and burnout?
A: The issue lies in the harsh system that prioritizes performance, profit, and entertainment over the health and well-being of athletes. Leagues often justify relentless, condensed schedules as “necessary” for revenue.
Q: How intense are modern athletic schedules?
A: Schedules are extreme, demanding peak physical performance beyond reason. Professional basketball and hockey players face 82 regular-season games, not accounting for travel or year-round marketing events. This constant demand has turned injury into an expected outcome.
Q: Is lack of recovery a factor?
A: Yes. Continuous competition prevents proper healing, leading to chronic injury and the body breaking down. Rest and recovery are often undervalued, despite being crucial for prevention. Injury related to sports and recreation increased 17 percent in 2024 alone.