How Physical Is Too Physical? NBA Addresses Hot Playoff Topic

Some will tell you the NBA playoffs have become “too physical,” with officials letting so much go in the postseason that pro basketball becomes a totally different sport in April and May than it is … well, the rest of the entire season.

This year, such claims seem to have become louder, with everyone from Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson to Warriors coach Steve Kerr to Timberwolves coach Chris Finch talking about it publicly.

Without a doubt, the physicality of the playoffs is at an entirely new level. Defenders can get away with a lot more and even the untrained eye can see it. In some ways, it’s a good thing. The regular season is incredibly geared toward favoring offensive play and high-scoring games.

Allowing more defense is a smart decision. But how far is too far?

“It’s my job to understand when there’s validity to the complaints,” NBA vice president of referee development and training Monty McCutchen told ESPN’s Baxter Holmes in a wide-ranging feature on the topic. “What I don’t and can’t do is influence a series. When coaches are right, I’m comfortable enough in my own skin to admit it, and then it’s my job to transfer that to the group.”

Interestingly, McCutchen says there’s no mandate from the league office that defenses be allowed to get away with more than they do in the regular season.

“For me, it feels par for the course,” he told ESPN. “It feels very similar. And our analytics show that it’s similar to past years.

“There’s no light switch that we turn on from a management or league perspective that says absolutely we’re going to let the playoffs be more physical.”

That may be true. But there’s been nothing to deter refs from allowing more physical play, either. That much is evident.

This isn’t a complaint — just an observation. It might serve the league a lot better to let games be played all season as they are in the playoffs. If not, then playoff games should be officiated the same way as they are in the regular season.

Now, McCutchen is correct when he says that the NBA playoffs have always been more of a grind-it-out affair. I’m all in favor of that. At the same time, I’ve been doing this a long, long time and I don’t ever remember the gap between how you can play in the regular season, and how you can play in the playoffs, being so wide.

That is the issue. And that is where the league needs to step in and take some action.

“What we’re trying to find is this balance between skill and legal physicality,” McCutchen said. “And for sure we’ve made that conscious choice over the last 18 months or so to allow for defenses to have a fair shot provided they get to that [spot] first.”