[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Back in ancient times, when Mark T. DeNucci, Sr. was officiating with his good friend James Naismith, teams only had one captain.

Now many teams will award the captaincy to almost all seniors (and occasionally some juniors). I had a game a few years ago with one team having quad-captains, and the other team having quint-captains. I was the umpire. The referee asked who was the "speaking" captain of each team, asked for their numbers (all were wearing warm-ups), and finally followed up with, "Are you starting?" (thank God they both answered yes, hate to think what would have happened next if somebody had answered no).

He didn't have enough time left to tell everyone that it was the black line all the way around.

Player: "Mr. Referee. Can we please have a defensive match-up because three substitutes from the other team entered?"
Referee: "No. You're not the speaking captain. Please have the speaking captain ask me".

Regarding the modern rules of basketball, captains are forgettable anachronistic formalities, as outdated as laced basketballs, peach baskets, and chicken wire cages around the perimeter of the court.

Maybe as outdated as Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.?

If a Team has multiple Captains I will ask which one is the "speaking captain".

1) I will speak with any Player as long as the Player does it in a sportsmanlike manner.

2) Most of the time the "speaking captain" is the best player on the team or is the de facto leader of the team. When I have a problem player or coach I want to deal with the de facto leader of the team because most of the time they are your best ally in taking care of problem players and coaches.

MTD, Sr.