Limiting LeBron lessens league

June 22, 2013|Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel Columnist

MIAMI —     Pat Riley held his tongue. One, because it was neither the time, nor the place.

    But he also has a point, even if it is a point in his best interest.

    For all the concern amid the NBA playoffs about flopping and flagrant fouls, about video review and lengthy stoppages, Riley had his focus elsewhere, particularly at midcourt.

    That's where, all too often during the playoffs, opponents simply would reach out and grab LeBron James if it appeared he otherwise would build a head of steam going toward the basket in transition.

    No, Riley was not talking about clear-path fouls, where the result is two free throws and possession. The NBA has neatly addressed that issue.

    The Miami Heat president was talking about the times a player such as Tony Parker or any other defender stood in the open court between James and the basket, in position to make a defensive play, and instead opted to bear hug James to stop the possession, 20, 30, 40 feet from the rim.

    By rule, unless the opposing team is over the foul limit, the call merely is a common foul, the Heat inbounding at side court. In the NBA, there is no "intentional foul" rule. You are allowed to foul by choice at any stage, free to incur any applicable penalties in place for such an action.

    To Riley, a purist at heart even after taking advantage of every nuance available to him in his coaching days, the point is that such fouls, fouls the Heat encountered during their playoff run against the Chicago Bulls (most famously by Nazr Mohammed), Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs, rob the NBA of the opportunity for the type of spectacular transition plays that so promote the league.

    Riley's view is that if such an intentional foul instead resulted in a pair of free throws, opponents might prove more likely to actually defend the play, or at least not surrender a pair of free throws 40 feet from the basket.

    When it comes to clear-path fouls, the NBA is highly punitive, dissuading defenses from short-circuiting open-court theatrics.

    Yet for every time a Mohammed steps up and throws a shoulder into James, for every time any star perimeter player is wrapped up at midcourt, if the penalty is merely one more personal and team foul and then side out of bounds, what's the downside?

   We saw it in Game 7 against the Spurs, when the only review was to see if a clear path foul was committed on LeBron. It wasn't, so merely side out of bounds. And one fewer highlight for the highlight tape.

   By adding a restricted area beneath the rim, the NBA opened the game to enhanced aggression at the rim. It's what fans pay to see.

   Similar thought went into the anti-flopping rules.

   The spectacular is what sells. LeBron getting the opportunity against a defender positioned between himself and the basket is what draws fans out of their seats and to the front of their televisions. Sometimes a Danny Green can come out of nowhere and make the stop at the rim, as he did to LeBron during the Finals.

   Or you could have a bear hug at midcourt, a whistle, a stoppage, no discernable penalty and then all five defenders positioned for another halfcourt sequence. Yawn.

   To re-open the open court, there has to be something more punitive than wrapping up an opponent 40 feet from the rim. It's a play as unsightly as all that floppery.

   LeBron, Westbrook, Kobe all should have the opportunity to play in space.

   It's the right call.


     OFFER HE REFUSED: Worlds collided this past week with the passing of James Gandolfini and the coronation of the Heat as NBA champions. As the New York Daily News reminded, no less than the actor who portrayed Tony Soprano was recruited for the video presentation the New York Knicks used in their free-agency pitch to James in July 2010. In the presentation, Gandolfini and Sopranos co-star Edie Falco spoke of an offer James couldn't refuse. Apparently, Amare Stoudemire was a bigger fan of the HBO show. The Daily News also recalled Gandolfini as a presenter at Spike TV's "Guys Choice Awards," where he told James that by signing in New York, "if you miss Cleveland, you just have to drive across the bridge to New Jersey. It's pretty much the same thing."

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