新的，更严格的媒体政策。周四，朝鲜恢复了一项长期存在的做法。本周早些时候，随着朝鲜政权更迭，这一做法似乎也将被搁置一旁。开拓者在周四改变了主意，接受了助理教练大卫·范特普尔的采访。周三，球队断然拒绝了这样的采访要求，并表示对助理教练和篮球运营主管的这样的要求可能不会得到满足。周三晚些时候，一名球队官员曾表示，一项关于助理教练和篮球运营主管人选的明确政策尚未生效。根据球队新的训练后指导方针，助理教练和篮球运营人员在训练后仍然不能接受媒体采访，除非媒体正式提出并批准了采访请求。对于媒体来说，这显然是一个好消息，因为助理教练是了解球员信息的重要来源。至少有一支NBA球队——波士顿凯尔特人队(Boston Celtics)——对其教练组实施了言论禁令，因此开拓者的这一举动并非史无前例。尽管如此，这还是和开拓者以前的做法有很大的不同。
——Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | 推特
"They say players like coaches who sweat with them," Lillard said. "Every morning, he's out there sweating with me. Working hard with me. He's kind of a younger guy, he knows how we are. He knows how it is, what we like to do, what we're interested in. To have someone like that who is around, a coach, who isn't afraid to get on you, to tell you what you need to hear, instead of what you want to hear, it's always a good thing."
On Wednesday morning, the Blazers denied a request by Blazersedge to speak with Vanterpool after practice. Initially, it appeared that all assistant coaches and basketball operations executives -- aside from Blazers GM Neil Olshey -- could be prevented from providing interviews to media members. Following Wednesday's practice, a team official indicated that no firm policy had been established and that details would be made available down the road.
The entire Blazers coaching staff, and the staff of the Idaho Stampede, was made available for interviews during Monday's Media Day and there was no indication at that time that their future availability would be limited. Olshey's key basketball operations staff members -- including his assistant GMs and directors of scouting -- were not on hand at Media Day. Multiple basketball operations staff members were available following the team's 2012 Las Vegas Summer League.
Per the team's new post-practice guidelines, assistant coaches and basketball operations staffers are now physically off-limits for conversations to media members following practices.
In previous years, assistant coaches were readily available, especially to discuss players with whom they worked. They were also made available for longer-form interviews, such as this extended interview with Monty Williams in 2008. Same thing for basketball operations staffers.
Blazersedge will provide updates on this policy as they become available. Here's hoping.
Also eliminated here are the spontaneous exchanges and conversations between media members and players and basketball operations officials that often occurred following practice. An invisible wall or protective bubble is the new norm. Access to players working out or rehabilitating in the weight room after practice has also been severed. If the current set-up had been in place over the last two seasons, it's possible the media wouldn't have even known Greg Oden was still on the team.
Certainly, these new rules are not the end of the world. All necessary information regarding injuries, lineups and the like will still be made available. Media access to practices has continually been reduced and/or formalized over the last few decades; this winds up being another small move forward on a long path of baby steps. But rapport between players and media will inevitably suffer and some of the funny, unscripted moments with players and helpful nuggets from scouts that occurred in previous years will wind up being casualties too.