OP/ED: NBA 50-50 Plan for Officiating Sends Wrong Message

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NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed The Economic Club of Washington, D.C. on why the league must encourage more diversity among officiating and head coaching new hires. Commissioner Silver indicated that he prioritizes a 50-50 plan that creates an even proportion of males and females at the aforementioned positions:

“It’s an area, frankly, where I’ve acknowledged that I’m not sure how it was that it remained so male-dominated for so long. Because it’s an area of the game where physically, certainly, there’s no benefit to being a man, as opposed to a woman, when it comes to refereeing. The goal is: Going forward, it should be roughly 50-50 of new officials entering in the league. Same for coaches, by the way. We have a program, too. There’s no reason why women shouldn’t be coaching men’s basketball.”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver

No problem with women headlining more of these positions. San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is considered among the all-time greats. He uses a spot on his staff for Becky Hammon. Who am I or any fan to claim that Hammon isn’t qualified for a future head coach opportunity when Popovich thinks otherwise? As for officiating, there have been five full-time female officials: Violet Palmer, Dee Kantner, Lauren Holtkamp, Ashley Moyer-Gleich, and Natalie Sago.

I’m just a bit taken aback on why NBA needs a 50-50 plan. New officials and coaches should face a 100-0 plan: hire 100-percent of the most qualified candidates and zero-percent of the least qualified candidates. If that’s 100-percent males, then so be it. On the other hand, if women prove that they should hold down 100-percent of these jobs, then so be it. In-between? Awesome.

Future NBA Hall of Famer LeBron James gave a simple response that supports what I’ve said and how most basketball fans feel. During an interview with ESPN, LeBron talked about Hammon becoming a head coach:

“I mean, if she knows what she’s doing, we’ll love it. I mean, listen, at the end of the day, basketball … it’s not about male or female. You know the game, you know the game.”

LeBron James

Commissioner Silver is allowing identity politics to create problems that have no reason to exist. Women are perfectly capable of these positions. Just don’t force a square peg into a round hole. Fans won’t accept anything less than the best from the world’s highest level basketball organization. Players and fans deserve a product where hires are based on merit, not identity.

A 50-50 plan is illogical because women are capable of reaching and then exceeding that milestone organically. NBA big wigs don’t need to encourage or force organizations into hiring women. Enforce 100-0: best-worst.

Perhaps NBA vice president and head of referee development Monty McCutchen said it best to The Associated Press:

“But true equality comes when they’re just going to be ‘referees’ on our staff. And that’s what we’re really trying to achieve, this sense that their work warrants their advancement.”

Monty McCutchen

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Joshua Huffman was born and edumacated in Middle Tennessee. He has published content for Yahoo! Sports (via Contributor Network) and Titan Sized, among other venues. At SoBros, he’ll provide Daily Fantasy Sports suggestions and broad sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter (although I rarely use it).

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