Tension between NBA players and officials has become a big topic of conversation this season, and one of the ways the two sides believe they can help the situation is by cutting out the middle man.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported over the weekend that a meeting was held on Saturday between three players, three referees and officials from both the referees’ union and the players’ union. One of the solutions the two sides came up with to ease some of the issues between them is to communicate more directly rather than going through the league office.
Among the items agreed on was establishing a direct communication line between the two unions that would not involve the NBA league office to address issues that arise between the sides, the unions announced in a joint statement.
There are procedures involving the league office in place, and those will continue. But there was a concern from the unions that sometimes the league office doesn’t communicate the same information to referees and players, and that was contributing to the divide, sources told ESPN.
Both sides also agreed that the “respect for the game rules” that were implemented in 2010 and updated in 2015 need to be communicated more effectively. The goal of the rules was to limit players lashing out at officials over calls, but Windhorst notes that players who receive technical fouls don’t always feel they are breaking the rules because they don’t fully understand them.
One specific issue that players have had with referees centers on the so-called “stop hand,” which officials have been told to use as a means of deescalating an argument. According to Windhorst, many players find the hand signal disrespectful and feel they should be given more of an opportunity to have an open discussion.
The league office was not represented in the meeting, but commissioner Adam Silver said he thinks it is “fantastic” that players and referees made the effort to meet with one another.
While we’ve seen some questionable ejections this season, that is really nothing new. However, the open dialogue between players and referees could help put a stop to some of the public bashing that has gone on.
