NBA referee Jenna Schroeder has been the talk of social media basketball circles since the San Antonio Spurs game at the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night, but not because she cursed on national television.

The NBA has a history of changing rules to eliminate the dominance of one player. In 1951, they widened the free-throw lane to make George Mikan less dominant. In 1999, they stopped players from dribbling without facing the basket for five seconds to slow down the best post players.

We tip off the NBA Christmas slate with the ascendant Spurs visiting the hot-shooting Knicks. San Antonio is markedly better than last year’s 22-win clunker — Victor Wembanyama is the clubhouse leader for Defensive Player of the Year,