Tone was set during the Payton era - ask tough questions or turn yourself into a media heel, and there will be, um, “professional consequences.”
Right or wrong, if you want to maintain your access, don’t make yourself a pain to deal with or create distractions for our environment. And definitely, without question, ever ask about player injuries, because you won’t like my answer.
SP has literally personally called reporters after press conferences or the day after games to scold them about questions they asked.