Running up and screaming in their face to bully them
I've never understood why that's tolerated. I'm all for a really quick whistle. Plenty of retired players have talked about how to have a good relationship with officials and it's to politely talk to them during stoppages in play.
This is another thing that needs a shaming campaign. There should be a nightly highlight reel of all the baskets scored on a team while one of their players is whining to the refs (or yelling at them).
Take a look at how rugby is played, sure you got emotions in play and usually they're kept in check. But the respect the players show the refs and the refs do what they can to call a fair game. It's not really seen in a lot of other sports.
Nigel Owens as an example of a rugby ref who is incredibly well respected. https://youtu.be/GQBreC7YdTc?si=MWHQr_hpgWS6FtMo the #1 ranked was him telling off Stuart Hogg for diving by saying "dive like that again and come back in two weeks and play" two weeks later from that game, was a soccer game.
I couldn't find the video but there's one of him telling Martin Johnson off and Martin was all, yes sirs and no sirs about it. Don't argue with the ref, it just irritates them.
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I do get that there are emotional and pivotal moments in a game where a blatant missed call can change the game so there are times I understand the frustration and outburst but when it is happening on almost every play. I think Nurse is a really good coach but one thing I didn't like about him and I think it created a culture on the team as well, is he would whine to and yell at the refs on almost every play. Pick your battles.
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Guys can usually reign it in though. There have been lots of specific forms of frustration venting that have been prohibited and players adapt quickly.
I just think running up and screaming in a ref's face should be a quick T, especially since calls are reviewable in the NBA. If your right to be so upset, then you will win the challenge.
Challenge reviews would be a great place to allow the refs to penalize flops, if they aren't already allowed to.
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