By: EFE Updated 16 May 2022, 16: pm EDT
Although physical violence between NBA players has decreased in recent decades, “symbolic violence”, such as insults, bragging and body gestures, has increased in the North American professional basketball league, according to a study released this Wednesday.
To carry out this analysis, published in the scientific journal PLOS One, the experts reviewed the NBA broadcasts between and 2018 and saw a reduction in physical violence, such as pushing, elbowing, or fighting.
The authors of the study, led by Assaf Lev, of the Sports Department of the Ono Academic College in Israel, attributed this decrease to the changes applied by the fourth commissioner of the NBA, David Stern, from 2004 to convert the professional basketball league in a show more oriented to families and pat sprinklers.
One of the main changes adopted by Stern, who ran the NBA between 1984 and 2014, was implement stricter rules against acts of physical violence by players.
In November 2004 the most famous fight in NBA history occurred, when the Indiana Pacers faced the Pistons in Detroit and with less than a minute to go in the match, with a 82-97 in the score favorable to Indiana, hometown player Ben Wallace fouled by Ron Artest.
Wallace confronted Artest and began to hit him, and quickly other players from both teams joined the fight, while the referees tried to separate them.
Makes exactly 16 years in an NBA game this happened. Ron Artest struck the first blow, Ben Wallace answered, Stephen Jackson invited everyone to fight, the spectators joined and nobody could stop them. pic.twitter.com/9R5EOQ8eer
– Andrés Camarero (@andycamarero) November 18, 2021
When it seemed that things were Calming down, Pistons fans threw a Styrofoam cup full of beer at the Indiana players. Artest and teammate Stephen Jackson jumped into the stands and began brawling with fans in a pitched battle never seen before in the NBA.
In response to the incidents, the NBA suspended players of both teams with a total of 550 games and imposed millions of dollars in fines, in addition to changing the regulations on the sale of alcohol in stadiums.
A pitched battle of the magnitude of that of the Pistons and Pacers has not been repeated, but the examination from Lev and his buddies from 36 NBA Finals games between and 2018 indicates that physical violence is still common, although it has decreased over the years.
However, as of 2014, acts of symbolic violence have increased and are now more frequent tell that physics.
The study also indicates that NBA commentators are more likely to support physical violence with statements of support, while consider the symbolic as harmless and, therefore, “admissible to be ignored”.
“The relative lack of interest from commentators is indicative of the lack of ‘glamor’ of violence symbolic in the NBA”, affirmed the authors.
The researchers concluded that, “although the increase in symbolic violence causes fewer physical injuries to professional basketball players, it can cause psychological damages”.