USA Basketball officials on Saturday said that the Thomas & Mack Center court "was safe and the space from the basket stanchion to the baseline was adequate, and that the broken right leg" Pacers F Paul George suffered was "a matter of bad luck," according to Steve Carp of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. The NBA, which "did not have jurisdiction over Friday's game," said that a "minimum of 4 feet is recommended from the base of the stanchion to the baseline, though most modern NBA arenas have 6 to 8 feet of separation." ESPN said that the "width at the Thomas & Mack was 2 feet, 2 inches." But officials said that the distance "between the basket and the baseline was 3 feet, 11 inches" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 8/3). In Las Vegas, Taylor Bern noted it is believed that the distance Friday night "was the same that was used during the NBA Summer League at the Mack in July" (LAS VEGAS SUN, 8/2). In Indianapolis, Bob Kravitz wrote it is "safe to say this never would have happened on a regulation NBA court." Kravitz: "If I'm USA Basketball, I'm done with the Thomas & Mack Center or any place that isn't configured like a proper NBA court" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 8/3).
