Minority journalists accuse NBA of discrimination: Report

NBA players have often been at risk of crashing into cameras and journalists when heading out of bounds behind the basket. So, during last season's playoffs, the NBA experimented with limiting press photographer spots behind the nets before deciding to make those changes permanent and mandate bigger escape lanes for the league's players.

Now, members of the black and Latino press are angry for the new media rules which some claim discriminate against minorities at NBA games, reports the N.Y. Post.

The league has quietly revoked floor access to photojournalists for small­er publications, saying there’s not enough room. Three seasons ago, the NBA allowed 40 camera positions, but this season they are now allowing just 20, 10 on each baseline.

In a statement, Rod Thorn, the league’s president of operations, said the policy is about safety.

“Many of the incidents of contact between players and photographers are around the basket area, so we felt it made sense to increase the open area between the baskets and the first photographer to four feet.”

But some African-American publication editors aren't so sure.

“The NBA is a plantation — always has been — and nothing has changed with this new policy,” New York Amsterdam News editor Nayaba Arinde told The Post.

She and others said the NBA has made money off the backs of small, community newspapers and many of its players come from the communities they serve.

Thorn says clearing the congestion behind the playing area permanently was planned even before the Pacers' Paul George suffered a gruesome injury when he crashed into the stanchion during a USA Basketball exhibition game in August.

On Thursday, the NBA reached a compromise with three publications, including the Amsterdam News, which will be granted limited floor access during Knicks and Nets home games.