Stop whining over whistles, commissioner tells players

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Brian Mahoney
ASSOCIATED PRESS

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NEW YORK ? Enough with the complaining. Stop with the gesturing. In fact, commissioner David Stern has made it clear to NBA players that he doesn?t want to see or hear any negative reactions when calls go against them.
And the Minnesota Timberwolves needed only one exhibition game to realize he was serious.
The Wolves? Mark Blount was ejected after picking up two technical fouls, and teammate Marko Jaric also was hit with a T in a victory over Milwaukee on Wednesday night.
All were whistled for their post-whistle antics ? which Stern thinks are a waste of time, anyway.
"In my 22 years in the game, I have never seen a call, or a noncall, reversed because a player complained," Stern said this week. "All it does is show a less attractive side to the greatest athletes in the world."
Players are fined for each technical foul they accumulate. So Stern thinks they should save their money ? and their breath.
There is no new rule, but players and coaches were alerted through a memo and preseason meetings with referees that their actions after calls would be a point of emphasis.
Still, it has players on edge for the second straight preseason. Last October, it was over the newly imposed dress code. This time, it?s over the belief that they no longer have the freedom to have discussions with officials, as has been the team captain?s right.
"The people that get the techs are emotional people. Do we cross the line sometimes? We walk it. ? If you want to fine the individual person, that?s what it is," Wolves star Kevin Garnett said after the game Wednesday. "To the fact that you can?t really speak to the refs, the refs don?t want to hear it. That?s almost like communism. That?s like Castro."
Players risk financial penalty with every technical foul. They are fined $1,000 for each of their first five technicals, an amount that increases by $500 for each five after that, capped by a $2,500 penalty for each one starting with the 16 th. A one-game suspension also comes at that point and for every other technical thereafter.