Referees in the NBA have shifted towards playing by their own rules. Since recent years, officiating in sports has been a sensitive topic towards fans and players alike. But, when it comes specifically to NBA officiating, its been at a steady change since earlier years.

Back in the 2000s, players in the NBA would throw elbows and be directly physical with one another, and not even earn a whistle. Times have changed—and with it the referees. The officiating was strongly built around the times we were in. In the times of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, drug abuse and violence were common, to the point where extremely physical defense was a regular. Referee’s paid no mind to the swings being thrown, as they had no means of preventing it. This all changed when Michael Jordan entered the league. His unstoppable presence only encouraged more hacking at the player. The league became very aware of this behavior, and grew scared of a loss of viewership if their stars were to suffer a career ending injury.

A new set of rules were put in at this time. Another referee was added to each game, and physicality was more heavily monitored after this. Players like Shaquille O’Neal would still maintain a physical playstyle, and brawls would occur, just not as commonly. All changed on the fated “Malice at the Palace” brawl on November 19th, 2004. During a game against the Pistons and the Pacers, Pistons player, Ben Wallace, attempted a layup, and was fouled by Pacers player, Ron Artest. Seemingly enraged Wallace stood up and shoved Artest, leading to a big brawl. After being broken up, John Green, a spectator, threw a drink at Artest during his mental exercise at the scoring table. After mistaking the aggressor to be spectator Micheal Ryan, he charged towards him and began another scuffle. During an Episode of Untold, Shaquille O’Neal says, “We were conditioned to some of the crazy things that Ron did throughout the previous two years, but what we weren’t conditioned to is the information and tools to help [our] brother. I’m sure all of us wish we had more information about Ron and the struggles that he had.” While Artest is at fault for reacting, he shouldn’t be shamed for it all. These course of events leads to the suspension of nine players, for a total of 146 games.