The NBA made some profound changes to its rules ahead of the 2023-24 season that could further the rift between players and referees that grew last season.
The league has given the referees the power to hand out technical fouls for flopping violations, something that Sacramento Kings star De’Aaron Fox is not happy about.
“Lol yeah, refs needed more power.”
Lol yeah refs needed more power https://t.co/fXCv9t0jpY
— De'Aaron Fox (@swipathefox) July 12, 2023
Fox didn’t stop there, making multiple tweets after this addressing fans that were sending him questions about what he had to say. He brought up the financial aspects of getting techs.
“For sure but refs shouldn’t get to make that judgment. Techs cost guys money and suspensions lol.”
Forsure but refs shouldn’t get to make that judgement. Techs cost guys money and suspensions lol https://t.co/JuDhWR2d7y
— De'Aaron Fox (@swipathefox) July 12, 2023
He further explained how refs may call technicals for flopping just because they didn’t see the contact occur.
“That’s not the point. There are times when you get hit and have a genuine reaction but since the ref didn’t see the contact now they think it’s a flop.”
That’s not the point. There are times where you get hit have a genuine reaction but since the ref didn’t see the contact now they think it’s a flop. https://t.co/OHWATig8a5
— De'Aaron Fox (@swipathefox) July 12, 2023
Given the fact we saw a referee get openly outed as a Celtics fan trying to give his own team favorable calls during the playoffs, players across the league will be worried about facing certain referees that they know may penalize them excessively.
Are Players Being Paranoid?
Many responses to Fox’s tweets have been, ‘just don’t flop.’ The situation just is not that simple, as referees miss calls all the time. Previously, a missed call was a missed call, but now it could lead to players being punished via technical fouls. These fouls all add up toward the end of the season and could lead to unpaid suspensions for players, a massive risk for them.
Hopefully, we don’t see the player/referee disconnect increase even further after this rule change. There has to be mutual respect between the parties, which has been lacking in recent years.
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