Heading into the 2018-19 season, the National Basketball Association thought to implement rules changes designed to amp up scoring. Among the more prominent: It moved shot-clock resets to 14 seconds and reworked the definition of clear-path fouls for easier determination. Most importantly, it banned all the clutching and grabbing that hitherto formed integral parts of a perimeter defender’s arsenal. And, as commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged last week, the decisions of the competition committee looked to be accomplishing exactly what it intended.
Indeed, scoring is up, and how. The pace-setting Warriors are posting 123.5 markers per outing, a whopping 10.7-point increase year on year. Nearly two-thirds of the league are norming at least 110, reflecting an overall boost not seen since the Celtics-dominated sixties gave way to the parity-driven seventies. Needless to say, well-timed memoranda from Silver’s office along with game arbiters’ strict application of the written word precipitated the spike; players got the message and began to act accordingly. Get free. Shoot when free. Get able. Shoot when able.
Certainly, it was in this context that Jamal Murray went about his scoring binge against the Celtics the other day. Even as the Nuggets under head coach Michael Malone implemented a system that had leather meeting nylon as often as practicable, he had the kind of showing where everything seemed to click from start to finish. And that his career performance came against the defense-first stalwarts of the green and white served only to underscore the gravity of his feat.
The Nuggets wound up on the right side of the scoreboard when the buzzer sounded, thanks in no small measure to Murray’s 48 points on 19-of-30 shooting from the field. He was on target from opening tip, and he knew it; even against two- or three-man coverages specifically aimed at getting him to give the ball up, he made the hoop his friend. And, not surprisingly, he aimed to get to the half-century mark even with the outcome already decided. He missed a reverse layin that would have put him right at the number, and then a jumper from beyond the arc in garbage time. Not that he was complaining in the aftermath.
The Celtics were, though. Murray’s last heave proved particularly offensive, with top dog Kyrie Irving seeing fit to throw the game ball to the stands at the buzzer in order to prevent the star of the day from getting it as a mantelpiece. The visitors felt disrespected, the five-time All-Star said, and “the ball deserves to go in the crowd after a bulls — t move like that.” Under the circumstances, an argument could likewise be made that he already did all the “disrespecting” that mattered before launching the controversial shot.
From Irving’s perspective, an unwritten rule was broken. And it bears noting that his position was shared even by others involved in the encounter. That said, what was truly more disrespectful? The understandable reach for the half-century mark or his dangerous reaction? Spectators could have been hurt, a possibility acknowledged by the powers that be in fining him $25,000. And he didn’t help his cause any by subsequently rejecting the handshake of Nuggets assistant Jordi Fernandez, an unsportsmanlike reaction that trumped any other slight, perceived or otherwise.
No doubt, the blowback on Murray’s action was magnified by his predilection to show up the competition. And, as a repeat “offender,” he had even less leeway. Nonetheless, the unwritten rule he breached runs counter to the NBA’s preferential option for higher scoring, not to mention the very definition of competition. There are at least 48 minutes to a game, and the fans pay a pretty penny to see players exert maximum effort in every second of those 48, not in just 47 and change for fear of ruffling feathers.
Sure, the notion of going all out until there is no time left on the clock regardless of circumstance can and will run scores up. On the other hand, real respect for the sport presupposes the need to fight to the very end. And, if nothing else, the NBA should emphasize its support for the mindset by clamping down on actions such as Irving’s. In the final analysis, any and all disrespect shown the other day was his and his alone.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
