NBA taking strides to increase baseline safety, but is it enough?


Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press wrote the following yesterday:

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. 
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.

The article also included some quotes from Thorn, including:

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. 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.

It's no surprise to see the league make these changes in the wake of the horrific Paul George injury (although Thorn claims they would have happened anyway).  The extra foot of space on each side of the basket should definitely help, as will preventing dancers from standing along the baseline.

But reducing the number of camera men there from 24 to 20?  Come one.  Will that even make any difference at all?  Won't it just give the 10 guys still sitting on each baseline a little more room to stretch out (see the Jason Terry photo above)?  How many photographers does the league really need under each basket anyway?  One on each side of the hoop seems like plenty.  And maybe the NBA should suck it up and give them a regular front row seat that's not on the playing surface.

I realize that photographers didn't cause George's injury, but if given the choice I'm sure the Pacers would happily sacrifice a few courtside tickets per game if it meant their superstar was still healthy.



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