Talking to players

[Coach Bill]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

There is something called preventative officiating. I tell players a lot of things if is going to prevent me from making a call that interrupts the game. And you only talk when you see someone do something borderline or it might not have actually created an advantage or was not clearly a violation. And players nowadays come to us often (at least in my experience) about things they get called for. So yes, we are going to talk to them and we have the right to talk to them.

I cannot speak for the NBA, but I know at the NCAA level, many officials talk to players when they can. And at least on the Men's side, they often want us to talk to players when we can. And I have seen many NBA official talk to players and the NBA made many videos public that officials talked directly to players. Not every conversation is going to be out in the open or where most even know what is said, but it is part of what we do in officiating in all sports and all levels.

Peace

Absolutely, I agree with this. And, I encourage my players if they're unsure what they did wrong to respectfully talk to the official. If done properly at a dead ball, most officials don't mind. On the NCAA level, each year the officials come in before the season and talk to the players/coaches about new rules and things they're emphasizing, and they'll officiate scrimmages/exhibition games to get the kids/coaches used to it. It's a good practice. I'm guessing they probably do it in the NBA, too.