Players, refs meet to work on issues

Ahead of Monday night’s game against the Suns, the Warriors met with Monty McCutchen — the NBA’s vice president of referee training and development — and several officials to discuss rules interpretations, on-court conduct and the expectations of officials.

“It was very constructive,” Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said of the meeting, which came during shootaround Monday morning. “The league is doing that with teams all over the league right now, bringing officials out, humanizing the refs, putting us face to face in a noncompetitive environment.”

Last month, in an attempt to improve the growing rift between officials and players, the league announced a fivepronged initiative to fix the problem. The first item on the list outlined a series of meetings between McCutchen, officials and all 30 teams.

The initiative came in the wake of a slew of high-profile run-ins between referees and players, some of which included Warriors players. Through Sunday, Golden State was third in the NBA this season with 47 technical fouls, behind only Oklahoma City (55) and Phoenix (51). Its nine ejections were six more than the next-closest team.

Draymond Green led the league with 14 technicals, and Kevin Durant was No. 1 with four ejections. At shootaround Thursday morning, general manager Bob Myers addressed the mounting technical fouls and ejections with the team.

“We usually only see these guys on game night, when everything is heated,” Kerr said of officials. “So, it’s good to see them in a more informal environment, and I thought it was very productive.”

Bowers leaving: Warriors chief marketing officer Chip Bowers is set to join the Miami Marlins as president of business operations.

Bloomberg was the first to report the news.

Bowers will report to the Marlins’ part-owner and chief executive officer, Derek Jeter. In his new role, Bowers will be charged with boosting revenue, finding a new naming-rights partner for Marlins Park and negotiating a local TV deal. Per Bloomberg, the Marlins’ current contract with Fox Sports expires in three years.

Bowers has been Golden State’s chief marketing officer for five years. Previously, he was the vice president of corporate partnerships and marketing for the Orlando Magic.