Last night we got a glimpse, during the preseason game between the Suns and Lakers, of what will be the new rule for bench player management. If even one of them sets foot on the field, for example, to cheer, will be punished with a technical foul. In last night\’s competition it was the turn of Thomas Bryant, who had entered the game, albeit briefly, after a Damian Jones dunk.
The referee\’s whistle left all of Bryant\’s teammates stunned, but even on social media his colleagues did not spare themselves. Ja Morant for example commented. \”wild\”, that is. \”crazy\”. The feeling is that we will see a lot of such cases this season.
wild https://t.co/xvaKo3R8Cd
– Ja Morant (@JaMorant) October 6, 2022
Until now, only those who entered the court during some brawling were punished, in which case a game suspension was also triggered. The latter measure was adopted by the NBA after the controversy of the last Playoffs, when benches such as those of the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat were often standing and even on the court while playing in that half of the playing rectangle. The presence of the players hindered those on the court, even risking injury in the event of an accidental collision.