It comes during a season where one of the storylines has been the ongoing deterioration of the relationship between the sides, with stars such as Durant, LeBron James and Chris Paul not shy about expressing their frustrations.

The league's plan comes less than a month before the players and referees are set to meet in Los Angeles during All-Star weekend, a long-planned session that was scheduled with hopes of finding common ground.

McCutchen and Michelle Johnson , NBA senior vice president overseeing referee operations, will be among those starting to meet with teams in the coming days, one of the five steps in the plan:

Johnson and McCutchen will conduct that training and will more closely scrutinize on-court interactions to make sure referees are handling things consistent with league policy.

Police officers used a stun gun on Milwaukee Bucks rookie guard Sterling Brown and arrested the 22-year-old Friday after a confrontation at a Walgreens parking lot.