This isn’t something that’s out of the ordinary for a player in the NBA, in terms of diving headfirst into a handful of overweight men holding expensive electronic devices and potentially injuring themselves even further. Head-to-electronic device encounters do not look like a fun experience, and we got a prime example of the damage they cause during Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
“During the Players Association meetings in July, I’ll have some points that will be announced,”
James told Chris Haynes of Northeast Ohio Media Group.
“Something has to be done.”
In the second quarter of Game 4 in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, Andrew Bogut fouled Lebron James in mid-air and James’ momentum sent him flying headfirst into a video camera held by a cameraman stationed on the baseline behind the basket.
The right side of his head struck the camera, causing a bloody gash. He received several stitches after the game and said he suffered a slight headache. This wasn’t James’ first dust-up with a cameraman this postseason. In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Atlanta Hawks, he stepped on the foot of a cameraman sitting on the sideline, turning his right ankle. Several NBA players took to social media following the play to push for cameramen to move further away from the action.
That’s taking your job too literal… Move the camera!!!
— Ryan Hollins (@TheRyanHollins) June 12, 2015
Get those damn camera men out the way
— JARRETT JACK (@Jarrettjack03) June 12, 2015
Michele Roberts, the executive direction of the NBA Players Association, also agrees that adjustments need to be made, saying:
“While I appreciate and enjoy up-close action shots of game play, do they really need to be that close to the action? I am no techno geek, but haven’t we evolved such that we can capture that action without being within inches of the game? Frankly for both the safety of the players and the camera men and women, we need to find a better solution.”
Lebron James said it best, “Something has to be done.”
