The NBA and the National Basketball Coaches Association
(NBCA) "moved toward resolving the league's microphone
controversy Wednesday during a 90-minute meeting," according
to USA TODAY's Roscoe Nance. NBA officials outlined a
scenario that calls for coaches who are "uncomfortable
wearing a microphone during games to commit to allowing a
boom mike into the huddle." Coaches would "have the option
of waving off the mike when discussing sensitive subjects."
NBCA Exec Dir Michael Goldberg said that he will "present
the plan to the league's 29 coaches for approval," and he
"hopes the matter is resolved by this weekend" (USA TODAY,
3/16). Meanwhile, in Toronto, Robert MacLeod writes that
the Raptors are "quietly hoping they won't have to wire a
[US]$100,000 fine to league headquarters." Raptors
President Richard Peddie: "I'm optimistic [the NBA will] act
reasonably" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 3/16). The team was
fined when coach Butch Carter refused to wear a microphone
during Sunday's game on NBC (THE DAILY).
OPINIONS KEEP COMING: Wizards President of Basketball
Operations Michael Jordan, on micing NBA coaches: "I don't
think [the league] should handcuff them or try to force them
to do certain things. But it does add to the beat of the
game, if the fan can ... see what's happening in the huddle
and what the coaches are thinking ("SportsCenter," ESPN,
3/15). In DC, Michael Wilbon: "[NBA Commissioner] David
Stern is a brilliant innovator who has rarely had a bad idea
in his long tenure as NBA commissioner, but this is a bad
idea for one clear and indisputable reason: It inhibits
coaching" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/16). In Milwaukee, Dale
Hofmann: "A league so clearly desperate that it tries to
replace Michael Jordan's brilliance with James Bond's
equipment can't possibly be hearing the customers. Give
them all microphones, of if that's not cost effective,
megaphones and mallets so they can beat the management over
the head with the obvious. It's the game, fellows, not the
lounge acts" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 3/16).
