The NBA has long skewed its rules to the benefit of offense, an understandable decision given that most people want to see points scored, but that enjoyment ends when it becomes a parade to the free throw line as offensive players have become more adept at drawing fouls by creating contact.
As such, the league has been looking into how to legislate that out of the game for next season, and according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Competition Committee has outlined three scenarios that will be changed for 2021-22. In an effort to discourage foul-hunting, the league will make offensive players seeking out contact in an unnatural manner an offensive foul or no-call, based on how dramatic the effort to draw contact is, in these three situations.
When a shooter launches or leans into a defender at an abnormal angle.
When a shooter kicks his leg (up or to the side) at an abnormal angle.
When an offensive player abruptly veers off his path (sideways or backward) into a defender.
In theory, this is a good idea, but as we have seen in the past, the best laid plans by the league for new points of emphasis don’t always have the intended consequences. Hopefully, the answer is to just go with more no-calls and teach players in that manner, because calling more fouls (just in the opposite direction) doesn’t make the game more enjoyable. If the referees just allow contact to happen in these instances where players are jumping into defenders and trying to sell it, it will work itself out — particularly because if players aren’t rewarded with free throws when they chuck a terrible shot at the rim just to draw a foul, they’ll soon have to recognize how much that’s hurting their team and their field goal percentage.
The fear for many is that this won’t change the frustration of watching a whistle-fest, and that it will only lead to just as many stoppages and more frustrations on all sides. That said, if they err on the side of just letting play go on when players make these unnatural moves, that could be for the benefit of everyone — well, except for those players who live at the free throw line because of them.