It seems hard to fathom, but in the event of an expected on-court fight between any number of NBA players, a team trainer is forbidden from leaving the bench to aid any players that may have been stricken during the skirmish, while the skirmish is still ongoing in the referees’ estimation.
We were reminded of this on Monday night when Denver Nuggets guard Arron Afflalo violently clotheslined Utah Jazz guard Alec Burks as the latter drove toward the basket.
Neither bench cleared and no Jazz player came through with a retaliation move outside of Enes Kanter getting in Afflalo’s face, thankfully, but Jazz trainer Gary Briggs did rush the court to attend to Burks, who initially writhed on the floor after taking a dangerous fall.
Watch:
You can’t actually see Briggs run out during that clip, as Burke fell on the opposite end of the court relative to the Jazz bench, but because several Jazz players decided to gnash about verbally with some Nuggets, Briggs was technically in violation of an NBA rule, and hit with a technical foul, allowing the Nuggets to tack on an extra point after Ty Lawson nailed a free throw. Burks was awarded with two foul shots and the ball as a result of Afflalo’s Flagrant 2 foul and ejection, but the extra point (which put Denver up by six points) may have made a world of difference in what turned out to be a two-point Denver win.
The rule in this case was pointed out to us by the great Clint Peterson at Fansided’s Purple & Blues:
Section V–Conduct
a. An official may assess a technical foul, without prior warning, at any time . A technical foul(s) may be assessed to any player on the court or anyone seated on the bench for conduct which, in the opinion of an official, is detrimental to the game. A technical foul cannot be assessed for physical contact when the ball is alive.
EXCEPTION: Fighting fouls and/or taunting with physical contact.
b. A maximum of two technicals for unsportsmanlike acts may be assessed any player, coach or trainer . Any of these offenders may be ejected for committing only one unsportsmanlike act, and they must be ejected for committing two unsports-manlike acts.
c. A technical foul called for (1) delay of game, (2) coaches box violations, (3) defensive 3-seconds, or (4) having a team total of less or more than five players when the ball is alive, or (5) an offensive player hanging on his basket ring or backboard, is not considered an act of unsportsmanlike conduct.
d. A technical foul shall be assessed for unsportsmanlike tactics such as:
(1) Disrespectfully addressing an official
(2) Physically contacting an official
(3) Overt actions indicating resentment to a call
(4) Use of profanity
(5) A coach entering onto the court without permission of an official
The NBA did well to implement rules that forbade players from leaving the bench during an altercation in 1995, and even though the rule has frustrated some New York and Phoenix fans over the years, it’s something that the league needs. You don’t have to be a violent knucklehead to want to jump into the fray so as to defend a teammate. It’s a human reaction, to be sure, but sometimes human reactions aren’t the best reactions when emotions are strong and tempers are flaring.
Briggs likely exuded none of this as he came to Burks' side. Alec Burks thankfully got up soon after the foul and finished the game, but he clearly landed hard on his hip, and the play in question looked very similar to the flagrant foul an unknowing Al Horford committed on T.J. Ford in 2007, one that exacerbated Ford’s spinal woes and sent into temporary paralysis:
Burks did not exhibit any signs of that initially, but that’s not the point. It’s a trainer’s job to check in on his stricken player, and he and his team should not be penalized for it. The fact that it happened in a game this close, aiding the team with the aggressor in this situation (Arron Afflalo is not a dirty player, but this was a reckless play), only adds to it. The technical will likely be rescinded and Briggs will have to pay no fine, and the Nuggets may have won without the one-point help, but this hardly matters.
The NBA is completely correct in having quite a few no-tolerance policies tossed into its rulebook. The league needs to make an amendment here, though. If a trainer leaves the bench to confront an opponent or add to the melee, yes, fire the guy.
That sort of reaction, from a trainer, is an outrageous concept, however, and a worst-case scenario. Until it happens, let’s allow the trainers do their job, especially when they’re needed the most.
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