NBA Announces Plan to Improve Relationship Between Players and Officials

The NBA announced Friday it has launched a plan meant to improve relations between players and officials for the remainder of the 2017-18 season and beyond.

According to Sam Amick of USA Today, NBA Senior Vice President and Head of Referee Operations Michelle Johnson and Vice President of Referee Training and Development Monty McCutchen will head the initiative.

Amick added that the plan includes five phases that will attempt to get players and officials on the same page.

The wheels will be set in motion before the NBA All-Star break. Johnson, McCutchen and their staffs will meet with all 30 NBA teams to discuss rule interpretations and how players and officials are expected to conduct themselves.

Also, the NBA will re-emphasize "Respect for the Game" rules, expand rules education for players and coaches, expand conflict-resolution training for officials and "create opportunities for engagement with all key stakeholders to find common ground between all parties."

President of League Operations Byron Spruell explained the rationale behind the decision:

"Given some of the tension and frustration in the air, our league we took a step back and said, 'Hey, we really are taking pride—great pride—in the things we stand for, in terms of competition, teamwork, respect, sportsmanship and certainly even diversity and inclusion. And so we when we'd recently seen some of the instances that had been happening on the court by our major actors on the court, we said, 'This is not living up to our collective standards ... in regards to sportsmanship.' We thought it was just important to take a renewed emphasis on respect and relationships—respect for the game and respect for each other."

The initiative was announced after multiple recent run-ins between officials and star players.

Earlier this week, Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant accused official James Williams of targeting him during a 123-112 win over the New York Knicks that saw him get ejected in the fourth quarter.

Durant later apologized for his comments and actions.

On Wednesday, Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin was assessed a technical foulfor a low pass to a referee during a break in play.

In addition to the five-pronged plan, players will be sent game tapes to clarify controversial calls, and there is a possibility that technical foul fines could rise next season.