Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA’s competition committee—a group of owners, general managers, coaches, players and referees from around the league—met on Monday to discuss rule changes that would “restrict unnatural motions on jump shots players use to draw fouls.”
The competition committee and the League’s GMs are going to meet next week to iron out specific examples to bring to the Governors for a vote.
Sources: NBA’s Competition Committee met Monday to further explore rules changes to restrict unnatural motions on jump shots players use to draw fouls. NBA wants to limit players – including stars like Trae Young, James Harden – from leaning backwards and sideways to draw fouls.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 14, 2021
This potential rule change is a direct response to a number of specific players who have abused the current set of rules to unnaturally initiate contact with their defender, and subsequently go to the foul line.
Brooklyn Nets superstar James Harden and Atlanta Hawks All-Star Trae Young are the prime examples of players who abuse this loophole (Young has become so well-known for it that New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio called him out for it in a now-viral video).
Subsequently, Young and Harden consistently rank near the top of the league in free-throw attempts. In fact, this season, Young ranked third this season and Harden had been the league’s leader in free-throw attempts for the previous six seasons.
A new rule could significantly hinder their attempts, and, subsequently, decrease their scoring output.
According to Woj, the league has compiled a compilation of video examples and have shared them with all 30 teams.
The competition committee and the League’s GMs are going to meet next week to iron out specific examples to bring to the Governors for a vote.
There’s a plan for the competition committee to introduce a set of recommendations to the NBA Board of Governors at some point this summer and for those rules to be set prior to when the 2021-22 Summer League begins in August.
