NBA baseline made safer with league's new rule changes

The NBA is making news of late even though the regular season is not underway. It is to do with the changing of baseline rules to ensure safety of players. The new regulations which were sent to all franchises by league president of operations Rod Thorn and executive vice president of team marketing and business operations Amy Brooks in a memo, call for an extra foot of open space on both sides of the basket stanchion in an attempt to improve player safety.

Paul George is helped by support staff after injuring his right leg in a collision with the basket stanchion.

Along with the increased space around the baseline, the new rules also reduce the number of photographers that station their cameras beside the basket. Thorn mentioned that the league had been monitoring the situation around the baseline even before Paul George’s gruesome lower right leg injury during a scrimmage match between members of the USA National Basketball team.

"The conversations about this topic preceded Paul's injury by several years. 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."-Thorn

Players have often risked crashing into camera and photographers while jumping out of bounds in order to save the ball and after experimenting with limited photo spots in this past season’s Playoffs, the league has decided to make their decision permanent.

The number of camera positions on the baseline has been reduced to 20 (10 on each side) from 24 last season and 40 during the 2010-2011 regular season. The dance team, mascots and other entertainers of home teams are no more allowed to be stationed beside the basket stanchion.

The move to announce these new rules is one that is long overdue with respect to the players’ safety on the surroundings of the court. With more space next to the court, lesser cameras and photographers, the players would not hesitate anymore to follow the ball out of bounds.