Refs call for summit meeting on NBA violence

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NATIONAL BASKETBALL REFEREES ASSOCIATION

************************* National Basketball Referees Association proposes three-way summit WASHINGTON - "Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal," said Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Three days after the second major fracas at an NBA game in as many years - last Saturday's game between the New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets at Madison Square Garden, coming after the infamous November 19, 2004 brawl involving the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills - Lamell McMorris, leader of the National Basketball Referees Association, invited National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern and National Basketball Players Association Executive Director Billy Hunter to join him at a three-way summit to be held in conjunction with next February's NBA All-Star Weekend to discuss constructive ways to curtail such incidents from recurring. "In this season of hope and peace, I have proposed that representatives of the league, the players association, the referees association, and possibly others, gather in Las Vegas to discuss the roiling emotions, passions, and energies that naturally arise during highly contested NBA games, and the sudden violence and the unchecked rage that can sometimes erupt from them," said McMorris. "Working together, we can develop ways of fostering healthy on-court relations, and methods of channeling aggression in constructive ways." "The intra-league summit will allow all NBA stakeholders to improve communications, discuss expectations, and improve conflict resolution," said McMorris. "Toward this end, Martin Luther King, III, eldest son of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and board member of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, has accepted our invitation to join us at the summit and assist the participants in their efforts to come to grips with these issues. There are others who could help the summiteers in this regard, and we have asked the league and the players association to invite others to the table." The National Basketball Referees Association represents the referees of the National Basketball Association. *************************