I think I know how to fix the NBA

Today, the NBA’s Competition Committee announced they are officially looking into whether scoring was out of control.

Huh.

I wonder what clued them in.

Could it have been last year? When Saddiq Bey (career average: 14 ppg) scored 50 points last year? Or when a decrept Klay Thompson had 54? Was it this year, when second-year three-point specialist Keegan Murray had 47 this year? Or Jerami Grant, an inconsistent stretch big on the 3rd worst team in the NBA, had 49? Maybe it was when a team scored 200 freaking points in the All-Star Game. Or, was it because, over the past two years, not only have offenses skyrocketed, but we’ve had FOUR 70-point games. FOUR. We had only seen one since Kobe had 81.

Duh, NBA. Of course scoring is out of control! I mean, remember when averaging 20 points per game was a fantastic season season? Remember when someone averaging 23+ was a for-sure All-Star, and averaging 27+ was an MVP-type season? Now, you have to be one of the 6 players averaging 30 to have a chance.

One of the things college basketball does better than the NBA is the scoring. An average college basketball score is about 75-70. Charles Oakley would be proud. And yes, I know their games are shorter, and they play slower and the players aren’t as good, but that doesn’t really matter here. Regular people, the NBA’s primary audience, can’t handle high-scoring games. Yeah, they love the dunks and the threes, but it takes away the spectacle of it all when those happen 50 times a game. Why do you think college basketball is so much more popular?

Just imagine if the NBA could bring scoring back to where it was just 10 years ago - in 2013-14, teams were scoring around 100 points a night. There’s still space for players to average 30 there, hell, KD did it that very year, but it just makes it so much easier for fans to enjoy basketball.

The problem, unfortunately, is getting scoring down. Basketball has a few set rules that would be incredibly hard to change, or make the game even worse (time of the game, distance of the three-point line, etc.). So, you have to look in orthodox ways, rules that no one might think of changing. So what about this - we abolish hand-checking.

Here’s the official NBA Rulebook rule on hand-checking -

“Contact initiated by the defensive player guarding a player with the ball is not legal. This contact includes, but is not limited to, forearm, hands, or body check.

EXCEPTIONS:

1. A defender may apply contact with a forearm to an offensive player with the ball who has his back to the basket below the free throw line extended outside the Lower Defensive Box.

2. A defender may apply contact with a forearm and/or one hand with a bent elbow to an offensive player in a post-up position with the ball in the Lower Defensive Box.

3. A defender may apply contact with a forearm to an offensive player with the ball at any time in the Lower Defensive Box. The forearm in the above exceptions is solely for the purpose of maintaining a defensive position.

4. A defender may position his leg between the legs of an offensive player in a post-up position in the Lower Defensive Box for the purpose of maintaining defensive position. If his foot leaves the floor in an attempt to dislodge his opponent, it is a foul immediately.

5. Incidental contact with the hand against an offensive player shall be ignored if it does not affect the player’s speed, quickness, balance and/or rhythm.”

Rule number five is the gold mine. That’s what needs to be fixed. Rule #5 says that if you hit the dude with the ball while he drives, that’s a foul unless it doesn’t mess with his balance.

That’s dumb. We should fix that. Especially the part about “rythm” - that basically means if you get in the ball-handler’s way, it’s a foul. Very, very dumb.

Why can’t we just adjust the rule to that it says “Incidental contact with the hand against an offensive player shall be ignored if it does not affect the player’s balance.” This way, you can slow down the ball-handler, put your weight into the guy, but if you’re too physical, then it’s still a foul.

Fouling and defense are the big problems here. More lax rules means less fouling, means less free throws and better defense and people play harder. Why doesn’t it work?

-Ian