The NBA unveils new rules to make baselines safer for players

Courtesy of Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

The National Basketball Association are implementing new regulations in the aftermath of the gruesome injury suffered by All-Star small forward Paul George during the USA Basketball Showcase game Friday, August 1, in Las Vegas.

The league is expanding the area that must be clear behind the basket and reducing the number of photographers along the baseline in an effort to improve player safety.  The new regulations are also calling for an extra foot of open space on both sides of the basket stanchion.  The memo was sent to teams Tuesday by league president of operations Rod Thorn and executive president of team marketing and business operations Amy Brooks.

“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 three to four 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, four on the other, 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.”