NBA Coaches to wear Microphones

On Wednesday it was announced by the NBA that coaches in ABC, TNT and ESPN will have to wear microphones during the game. They will also have to do in game timeout interviews. It has been noted that players will also be asked to wear a mic but then can decline. The NBA coaches have no choice in the matter. As you might have expected, NBA coaches are not thrilled with this whole idea.

Detroit Pistons coach Flip Saunders said he believes rules for other leagues are more liberal. In baseball, he said, managers have the option of wearing a microphone, and in the NFL, each coach must only do so once a season.

"I'm not a fan of it," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "I'm told to do it, so I do it. I think it's unnecessary. It's not going to hinder me from doing anything.

"I look at it from a player's perspective. You try to get guys to communicate with the coach, but now the coach is miked. I don't know that I'd be that comfortable being frank with the coach if I knew he was miked and it could be on TV. Quotes get taken out of context. And people make judgments on those quotes."

Skiles revealed the league's new microphone plans Thursday but asked not to be quoted, because he wasn't sure if the information was ready to be released by the league.

Jeff Van Gundy of the New York Knicks, another microphone-leery coach, got it basically right when he told reporters on Monday that "Everybody wants to do their part to get the ratings up, but how much is too much? People buy a product because of the product, not the packaging."

The NBA has told coaches that inappropriate remarks will not be aired and strategy not divulged. David Stern, the NBA commissioner who is now engaged in damage control, said that coaches could always turn off their microphones for a stretch if they were going to address a sensitive topic.

That is all fine and fair in theory, but most of the coaches comments will still be heard and filtered by someone who is not a member of their teams. If something sensational has to be edited out, whose to say it won't be passed on or whispered on later? If something tactical has to be edited out, whose to say that rival teams won't find a way to get some access to it?

With all that said. Why don't they just let basketball be basketball. Why do we want to hear what the coach or even at that, what the players are saying. Just let me watch the game!