Recently there has been talk about moving NBA photographers further away from the baseline of the basketball court. LeBron James took a tough fall onto some photographers during Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The results from this fall were some stitches on his head and a big headache after the game. James is a leader for the National Basketball Players Association and is pushing hard for a better solution regarding the number of photographers allowed on the court and how close they get to be to the court. This situation has been closely examined more than ever before these past 4 years. In the 2010-2011 season 40 photographers were allowed on the sidelines. During the summer of 2014 the number of photographers allowed on the court was reduced to 20. Not only has the Associated Press reduced the number of photographers to make it safer for the players and photographers but they have also moved them further away from the court.
Michele Roberts, the NBA Players Association executive director, thinks photographers do not need to be “that close the action” and photographers should be able to capture the action from further away. With that being said, if photographers are forced to move further away from the court, onto seats in the stands, the floor space for the photographers will be empty. People will see this as a huge opportunity to buy seats at the baseline of the court and owners will be more than happy to sell those seats for big bucks. The only good thing about that is that these people will not have big camera equipment on them.
Being a sports photographer myself, I feel reducing the amount of photographers and moving them further away from the baseline has been a good place to start to ensure safety of the players and photographers.
barry scott (Friday, 19 June 2015 04:15)
Totally agree that if they move the photogs out from courtside, they will find a way to make money off of that unused space. Fans will be there, spilling drinks and causing others hazards just as bad as the camera crews.