The discontent of the players has been heard regularly since the start of the season about the walkers, now much more hissed. The latest rant came from Jaylen Brown, vice-president of the players’ union, who had pointed out the lack of harmony at the level of the refereeing body from one match to another.
Executive vice-president of the league, in charge of “basketball operations”, Joe Dumars therefore spoke on this point, affirming that the NBA was not going to backtrack and that this purge was necessary.
“When I arrived at the NBA offices, I realized that there are constant debates about the rules and the points on which to press. And one of those points was to say start whistling those third, fourth, sometimes even fifth steps that a player might take. This is unacceptable. It was one of the important messages at the start of the season. The message to the referees was: ‘If you see something, whistle it. Don’t make it up, don’t look for it if it isn’t there. But if you see it, whistle it'”he explained. “Some ask what’s going on with the walkers. I answer them: ‘Are you talking about the third and fourth steps? This is precisely why we whistle them. It is a point on which we insisted, and the players will adjust. They always do”.
No matter how long it takes
Regularly, Internet users make compilations of blatant walks from league stars like LeBron James, Ja Morant or Jaylen Brown, without these being whistled. We also think of the hardships experienced by some NBA players in the past, when switching to international competitions governed by FIBA. Shaquille O’Neal also brought them to light in a fun tonebut the problem is very real.
Joe Dumars is aware that he is tackling a major project, but is confident in the ability of the refereeing corps to succeed in this mission, no matter how long it takes.
“I was in a meeting last week and made a presentation about it. And I said this: ‘Of all the points that we’ve been emphasizing, freedom of movement, unnatural offensive movements, all those things, the one that will take the longest is going to be walking it’, he added. “You’ve got guys doing these moves since they were teenagers, since they were kids. They’ve seen guys do these moves and they’ve grown up doing these moves. So it’s coded in them to do these movements. And now we tell them: ‘You can’t do that, you can’t take three or four steps’. So the players are going to adapt, they’re going to get there, but I firmly believe that’s what’s going to take the players the longest time.”
Same thing for the ball carriers which are also whistled more this year by the referees, and which Joe Dumars considers to be part of the same category as the walkers, namely movements that the players have been used to doing (by tolerance of the arbitration body) and which are now prohibited.
Even if the NBA will remain firm on the subject, it defends itself vis-à-vis players who consider themselves injured in their game.
“There’s no rule change that’s going to take you from a great player to a mediocre player. There are not any. Look… Giannis Antetokounmpo is still great, James Harden is still great, Trae Young is still great. All of these guys are still great players. That is what I am saying. There’s no need to tip the scales in favor of these guys.”concluded Joe Dumars.
