Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr stated on Monday night his concern with the placement of baseline camera operators in arenas throughout the NBA.
The response comes just two weeks after Memphis Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant crashed into a courtside camera operator on Nov. 25 against the Indiana Pacers. Morant appeared to take a knee in the back in the collision, causing the rookie to eventually miss four games due to back spasms.
As the Grizzlies face the Warriors on Monday, Morant is expected to return to the court but the guard recently expressed his concern with the layout of the baseline area. Kerr echoed the same concern prior to playing Morant and the Grizzlies.
Steve Kerr on his response to Ja Morant’s cameraman collision:
“Yeah, I worry about that, the proximity of the cameramen…it feels like a lot of things can go wrong.”
— David Cobb (@DavidWCobb) December 10, 2019
Following the gruesome leg injury to Paul George August 2014, the NBA mandated that teams add an extra foot of space on both sides of the basket stanchion, increasing the total area of open space to four feet.
The league also required at least six feet in between the base of the basket support to the baseline. In addition, the number of camera operators also decreased from 40 to 20 with 10 allowed on each side of the basket.
It is unclear what potential changes could be made to the baseline area of the court midseason. The NBA has often taken a proactive approach to player safety so the conversation could be revisited in the offseason.
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