This month, Clippers star Kawhi Leonard sat out a nationally televised game on the first night of a back-to-back.

The reason? Load management.

The Clippers’ decision to rest Leonard sparked controversy and made ‘‘load management’’ one of the hottest terms for injury prevention in the NBA.

But it isn’t a new concept. It’s something players have been taking into consideration for years — in the NBA and in the WNBA.

Load management doesn’t necessarily mean limiting a player’s minutes. To Sky guard Allie Quigley, it means ‘‘controlling how much pounding your body’s taking in a season and deciding when to take a day off,’’ whether that be for a game or a practice.

The NBA plays 82 regular-season games, compared with 34 for the WNBA. But because WNBA salaries are a small fraction of those in the NBA, most female players have to play overseas to supplement their income. This means they’re playing 10 or more months out of the year and can compete in anywhere from 30 additional games in Euroleague to 46 in the Chinese Basketball League (both excluding playoffs).

Players in the NBA and WNBA also are subjected to sleep deprivation and a lot of travel. One major difference between the two, however, is that NBA players fly charter and WNBA players fly commercial.

Quigley, who at 33 is the Sky’s oldest player, has learned to listen to her body more. She spends more time receiving treatment and chooses to take extra days off.

‘‘When I was younger, on days off, I would be like: ‘I have to get into a gym, still. I’ve got to go run up and down the court,’ ’’ Quigley said. ‘‘I did a bit more pounding on my body. But when you get a little older, you realize a day off is going to be more beneficial to you.’’

That’s an important realization for players who play year-round.

Women’s players’ workloads tend to increase overseas. Sky forward Cheyenne Parker said her team in South Korea last offseason regularly held two three-hour practices in addition to playing multiple games a week. Quigley said she also has been on teams where she has had to practice four-plus hours in a day, though that hasn’t been the case this season with Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg.

‘‘I feel like I’m just lucky to be on this team where they kind of understand it,’’ Quigley said. ‘‘With [Sky coach] James [Wade] being here as an assistant, I think it helps that they understand that aspect a little more, so they’re not pounding us as much here.

‘‘But speaking of my other 10 or 11 years overseas, it’s like they have no regard for the fact that you just played a five-month season. It’s like, ‘This is your schedule, and we’re not going to change the schedule,’ even if players are like, ‘OK, we’re really tired.’ It’s kind of a little more strict over here.’’

Wade preached patience in training camp in May. He wanted his players to ease into the preseason rather than run on all cylinders. Quigley said she thinks the WNBA does a good job overall of making their players’ health a priority.

‘‘The WNBA does a good job with catering to the people who maybe need a little more time after a European season, or they don’t really practice us as hard during the season because they know that we have such a condensed, short season,’’ Quigley said. ‘‘Health is a No. 1 priority.’’

Load management doesn’t only apply to older players, either. For example, the Grizzlies decided to rest rookie point guard Ja Morant, who had knee surgery this summer, for a game this month.

Quigley said she has noticed teams being more cautious with players’ workloads, especially those coming back from injuries. She also has seen a movement among younger players to put more of an emphasis on extra treatments and stretching.

‘‘It’s just kind of a trend to pay more attention to that,’’ Quigley said. ‘‘Younger players are paying more attention to that a little bit more than they ever had.’’