With the playoffs being so much more physical than the regular season, LeBron James wants the officiating to help ease teams into the change.
Playoff basketball is a whole other level compared to regular season play. With the stakes rising and the quality of teams also increasing, everyone is aiming to be the best version of themselves.
The Lakers witnessed this firsthand this season as the intensity increased during their first round matchup with the Wolves. Players like Austin Reaves suddenly struggled to get separation or the kind of calls they were accustomed to receiving during the rest of the year.
While there will always be an adjustment between regular season action and playoff play, LeBron James mentioned on his most recent episode of “Mind The Game” podcast that the league should help ease into this transition.
LeBron: “First I thing I want to say that is, like, if they’re going to allow it to be as physical as it is, you have to give us a little bit of time to prepare for it.”
Nash: “So, like, post-All-Star break.”
LeBron: “Yeah, post-All-Star break is usually 30 games left. So maybe like 12-15 games left in the regular season. Give us a month to prepare for it. Because it goes from zero to 100. It goes from…no body check, no hand checking, no pushing a guy off his spot, no re-routing guys at all for six-and-a-half, seven months. Then, two months straight, have at it. Like straight up no holds barred. It’s fun. I love it. I don’t have a problem with it. It’s just contrast of not being able to get into that flow.”
Having a ramp-up after the All-Star break is an excellent idea from LeBron. With 30 or so games to go and teams already stepping up to fight for playoff positioning, it makes perfect sense to bring playoff officiating to these games.
LeBron continued by explaining that while a more playoff-like intensity makes sense in the months leading up to postseason action, the early parts of the season can remain the same.
“I would not want to see the two-month way we officiate the game [during the playoffs] or allow us to play the game from October to mid-April. I don’t think that would be beneficial.”
Perhaps this is something the league and the players can discuss in the offseason. While it’s great that the playoffs allow for more physicality and the games benefit from it, there’s nothing wrong with adding some of that to the regular season games leading up to the playoffs.
It would also likely lead to an even better postseason. With teams playing earlier with that level of physicality, they can adjust to it more effectively and get into a more natural flow during the early rounds.
Overall, NBA players want consistency in officiating. If a playoff-level baseline can be established earlier and teams can adjust to it before the start of the postseason, that would benefit referees, fans and players alike.
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