Long Pregame Handshake Routines Could Result in Technical Fouls

This just keeps getting worse and worse. After news broke that pregame handshake routines are now on a ridiculous 90-second clock, the NBA announced that taking too long to shake hands can cost your team points. Per ESPN: “Players have been advised of the initiative during the annual meetings with referees in the preseason as part of the league’s ‘points of emphasis.’ … ‘There’s a 90-second countdown, it is placed on the clock,’ NBA spokesman Tim Frank said. ‘At 30 seconds, there’s a warning horn and alert by the refs. At the end, teams need to be ready to tip off or face a delay-of-game warning.’ Two delay of game warnings would result in a technical foul. Players around the league are already reacting negatively to the new policy. ‘I personally don’t like it,’ Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant told The Oklahoman. ‘Every player in this league has routines they do with their teammates, rituals they do before the game and before they walk on the floor. The fans enjoy it. You see the fans mimicking the guys who do their stuff before the game. To cut that down really don’t make no sense.’”