Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant took to Twitter on Saturday night to call upon the NBA to move camera operators back from their current positions on the baselines of arenas.
The plea comes less than a week after Morant took a scary fall into a baseline camera operator on Monday night against the Indiana Pacers. Morant needed help to walk off of the court after he appeared to take a knee to the back from a photographer. He managed to return in that game to play in the second half.
Morant played in each of the next two games for the Grizzlies but aggravated his back spasms playing Friday night against the Utah Jazz. The Grizzlies announced on Saturday that Morant is considered to be week-to-week and will need a period of short-term off-loading to manage the injury.
let’s move the cameramen back 🤝@NBA
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) December 1, 2019
The NBA made changes to the baseline layout in arenas around the time of a horrific leg injury suffered by Paul George during a Team USA scrimmage in Las Vegas of August 2014. George crashed into the basketball stanchion that appeared to be closer than normal, raising questions on the placement of the hoops around the league.
Following the injury, the NBA mandated that teams add an extra foot of space on both sides of the stanchion, increasing the total area of open space to four feet. The league required at least six feet in between the base of the basket support to the baseline. The number of camera operators also decreased from 40 to 20 with 10 allowed on each side of the basket.
Players seemingly come close to crashing into those stationed on the baseline on any given night. After the NBA made sweeping changes to the layouts of the floor, it is unclear what further changes can be made during the middle of a season as it would likely be a discussion to have in the offseason months.
The NBA has been progressive in the past when it comes to player health and safety and changes could be on the horizon should they see an increase in collisions and injury in that area of the court.
Morant is averaging 18.6 points, 6.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 17 games played this season.
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