Following confusion centered around the load management of Kawhi Leonard, the NBA outlined new guidelines for injury reporting in a Nov. 11 memo to teams, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN.

Load management will now be considered rest and is a healthy player taking a game off. If not playing in that particular violates the NBA's resting policy, then the team will be penalized.

"What has been confusing -- and I'm not picking on Kawhi -- but 'load management' was one of the causes people put out for why he sat out, and it's not," NBA's president of league operations Byron Spruell said. "He's an injured player."

The resting policy prohibits teams from sitting healthy players in "high-profile" nationally televised games. It also requires teams rest players at home unless there's some "unusual circumstances." Under those guidelines, teams can only rest a healthy player in a home game broadcast on local television.

For any injury, the NBA requires that teams submit documentary proof into a league-supervised portal, according to Spruell and team medical personnel who spoke to ESPN. 

"They get everything," one team medical staffer told ESPN.