If you have only started watching basketball in the past five years, you may have noticed an intriguing set of moves developing throughout the league. Perennial MVP candidate James Harden of the Brooklyn Nets, previously of the Houston Rockets, used to set up at the three point line, drive, hook the defender’s arm into his, and immediately push his arms upwards into a shooting motion, effectively dragging the defender’s arm into his shot, thus causing a shooting foul. From 2015 to 2020, James Harden led the league by a large margin in free throw attempts (FTA) per game with over 10 per game. His ability to draw foul calls and get to the free throw line has cemented him as one of the best scorers to ever play. However, the NBA is a copy-cat league and his success quickly spread to other teams. In the 2020-2021 season, Joel Embiid averaged 10.7 FTA per game, Trae Young averaged 8.7 FTA per game, Bradley Beal 7.7 FTA per game and Damien Lillard 7.2 FTA per game. In 2021-2022, although early, FTA is down dramatically. Harden is averaging 4.7 FTA per game, Embiid is at 8.8 FTA per game, Young is at 5.3 FTA per game, Beal is at 4.2 FTA per game and Lillard at 3.3 FTA per game. So what happened?
At the center of this decrease is a rule change. In the summer, the NBA Official Twitter account notified fans that the NBA’s Competition Committee, a governing body made up of players, coaches, owners, referees and Commissioner Adam Silver, had decided on an interpretive change in officiating to eliminate “non-basketball moves.” What constitutes a non-basketball move? When an offensive player goes up for a shot and they do so in a manner that attempts to draw contact by leaning into a defender or kicking their legs out, it is no longer a defensive foul, but rather an offensive foul. If the offensive player veers off of their path in a manner where they jump sideways or leans backwards to initiate contact from a rushing defender, it is now an offensive foul. If the offensive player uses their off-hand, the one they are not dribbling with, to initiate contact with a defender, it is now an offensive foul.
If you have been watching some of the early games this season, you can clearly see that this “interpretive” change has been taken to the extreme; a lot of clear fouls are not being called. This rule clearly helps the defenders by allowing them to be more aggressive towards offensive players, but no one except those seeing their FTA fall seem to be complaining. This change has been lauded universally by fans, coaches, and players. As fans, we spend our time and money watching our favourite teams and players play basketball. There are not many who enjoy the thrills and the electrifying excitement of free throws. As great as James Harden is, and as much as I respect him for using all the tools available at his disposal to dominate, it was down-right annoying watching him hook the arm of his defender and essentially flop by throwing his arms up, forcing the defender’s arm across both of his. Harden had no intention of shooting the ball nor even scoring. He just wanted the foul and subsequent free throws. It is up to Harden and the other floppers/offensively-savvy players to adjust.
In the 90s, the NBA was a completely different league. Teams did not take threes, defenders could hand-check, meaning they could place their hand on offensive players to push them around, and the game was much slower in nature. Centers dominated in the post and the mid-range jumper was the most popular shot of choice. The present game is clearly faster, more efficient, and favours the offensive player. However, this interpretive rule change has re-asserted the ability for defenders to be more physical with offensive players. Hand-checking is still illegal, but mere physical contact is no longer a foul. This has led to less stoppages, thus helping the games flow. Fans are not asking to go back to one-versus-one, extremely physical and slow post-up basketball. The sensational three-point shooting, quick fast breaks, and exotic playmaking from small guards is only possible with rules favoring the offence. But the NBA correctly determined it had gone too far; they needed to even the playing field. These players will eventually see their FTAs increase, but the game is better when they get less foul calls. Sorry not sorry.