The NBA is expanding the area that must be clear behind the basket and cutting the number of photographers along the baseline in an effort to improve player safety. The new regulations, calling for an extra foot of open space on both sides of the basket stanchion, were sent to teams Tuesday by league president of operations Rod Thorn and executive vice president of team marketing and business operations Amy Brooks in a memo that was obtained by The Associated Press. Thorn says clearing the congestion behind the playing area was planned even before Indiana's Paul George broke his right leg when he crashed into the stanchion last month during a USA Basketball exhibition game. "The conversations about this topic preceded Paul's injury by several years," Thorn said. "As a matter of fact, at our league meetings in July we informed our teams this was the direction we were going. But of course when an injury occurs like the one to Paul, it reaffirms the changes we have made and the need to continue to evaluate our policies." The "escape lanes," the unoccupied area on either side of the stanchion to the closest photographer spot, will increase from 3 to 4 feet. Only 20 camera positions, 10 on each baseline, will remain, down from 24 last season and 40 during the 2010-11 regular season. Each baseline can have six photo spots on one side of the basket and four on the other, and dance teams or other entertainers cannot be stationed along the baseline. "We have been studying this issue consistently over the last four years and these are just the latest adjustments to make the baselines an even safer area for our players, our team attendants and the photographers," Thorn said. "Many of the incidents of contact between players and photographers are around the basket area, so we felt it made sense to increase the open area between the baskets and the first photographer to four feet." Players have often been at risk of crashing into a camera when tumbling out of bounds behind the basket. The NBA experimented with limiting photography spots during last season's playoffs before deciding to make those changes permanent and mandating the bigger escape lanes. "We will continue to examine this to ensure the safety of our players while at the same time allowing for the networks and media to properly capture images from our games," Thorn said. "We feel we have balanced those needs very well but will continue to review our processes throughout the season." http://www.nba.com/2014/news/08/26/...rue&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
There's a Dennis Rodman/photog should wear a cup joke in there somewhere, but I'll be damned if I can find it...
Do they think we're stupid? ... riiight, how long would it have taken to put this into effect... oh, just a few weeks I love how they think they're just going to think we're going to buy that. They know we can't fact check that... but I highly, HIGHLY doubt they actually had the conversations. NBA, we're not fucking stupid. Nice try saving face.
Actually this has been discussed for a long time. It's overdue. Guys running and leaping at full speed need a landing strip. I always thought the photographer log jam was ridiculous under the basket. I think they could get rid of the first row of seating too but money ain't lettin' that happen. How many VIPs has Shaq squashed in his career?
The hoop should also be able to be designed without a floor bound support, there has to be a better way to suspend it. I wouldn't mess with the 10' or 18" height and rim dimension though
... You do know the NBA had nothing to do with Paul's injury, right? This happened on a FIBA court where the hoops are closer to the court than in the NBA. Why would the NBA have to save face? They were already safer than FIBA, and now they're going to be even more safer than FIBA.
Still saved face, no matter how you sliced it. They are a corrupt business like the NFL, NCAA, etc. They dont get any free passes, they didn't earn it. #beingirriationalgetoverit
This is nuts! It's already crazy because teams and networks are already fighting over space down there for our cameras! Now there is going to be even fewer spaces. Some arenas around the league have TONS of space and some like ours it's super crowded. Sent from my stolen iPad FAMS!
Ahhhh man. Charles Barkley knocking out cameramen was what the NBA was all about. Now they'll have to have an excuse.