This week’s column rotates around my sport, basketball, specifically on a matter regarding, what many describe as the world’s top league, the NBA.

Those who follow regularly the games from the States have surely lately noticed that certain rulings have changed, sometimes drastically, in the past months.

Just lately I have been reading an interesting write-up by Ken Koester who is the associate editor of the magazine ‘Referee’ which is very popular amongst sport officials in the USA.

Here follows a brief summary of Koester’s opinion on the latest rulings adapted in the NBA.

The clear message given to players and coaches to clean up the game in the NBA was a proclamation that has been echoed from high above in the NBA offices in New York and has, nowadays even if just a few weeks has passed, filtered down to practically all levels of top-level and serious basketball.

The warning given by the NBA administration was that if the behaviour does not improve, there will be consequences, even serious ones eventually.

The rule, according to Koester, is not new. Rather, it is a top-down “no tolerance” policy handed down by the NBA Commissioner David Stern. It is designed to limit the never-ending arguing, complaining, gesturing and lobbying that had become so prevalent in recent years after every whistle by a referee.

This does not mean that questioning of calls will not be tolerated and has been totally abolished, but there is a proper time and place for such conversations.

Many have also seen (and many local enthusiasts have even noted and discussed this at great lengths) that technical fouls were quite on the rise through the first month of the NBA season.

Some star players immediately questioned the ruling and termed it unfair. Minnesota Timberwolves’ star forward Kevin Garnett was even quoted, Ken Koester writes, as calling the policy “communistic!!”

Strictly-speaking, for a player of that magnitude to even imply that a long-standing rule is communistic in nature is quite laughable.

Other players were also struck negatively with this ‘clean-up’ rule. At an extreme one has to mention Detroit Pistons’ forward Rasheed Wallace who initially insisted that the policy was directed at him personally and called it the ‘Sheed clause.’

Other players and coaches (probably those who are mature and have a real love for the true spirit of the game) knew it was time to get control of the constant complaining as this was becoming too much.

“Somebody would be shooting a free throw and two or three players would be lobbying (a referee) constantly for a call,” said Chicago Bulls Coach Scott Skiles. “The stuff had taken on a life of its own, and it had to stop.”

An interesting observation was made by Washington Wizards’ all-star guard Gilbert Arenas who said “if you talk to referees, they will talk. They do not want you to showboat them up. All the cussing and antics that we were used to in the last years … that is all they are cutting out.”

Ken Koester continues by highlighting the fact that whether or not you agree with the mandate handed down by the commissioner, it has become readily apparent that the actions of NBA players filter down to the lower basketball levels in the US, namely college, high school level and beyond.

Koester concludes that it is time for referees to take control and penalize the inappropriate behaviour of players. Most importantly, referees cannot get to a point at which every call they make is automatically questioned.

Since I am highlighting the matter, I would like to point out, and make local sport lovers aware of, an interesting disciplinary ruling, where a referee was involved, passed over just this week in America.

Charles Kirkland, 47, was sentenced to 15 months probation and a $680 fine for assaulting referee Culley Phillips during a seven-on-seven football game June 17 at Grapevine High School, North Texas.

Kirkland was coaching his son’s team, Wylie (who even were deducted four points in the table), when the assault occurred. Wylie was losing against Lewisville Hebron when Kirkland punched Phillips in the second half of the game.

The two men wrestled to the ground before others separated them and the game was stopped, police said.

Phillips suffered a split lip and this was the first time he had been assaulted in 30 years as a referee.