NBA stiffens its take foul penalty, but will keep play-in tournament
The NBA has completed the process of changing the transition take foul rule, ending years of discussion about what to do with the long-maligned tactic.
And, also as expected, the play-in tournament is going to be around for the foreseeable future.
The league’s board of governors finalized those two matters Tuesday, approving a plan to award one free throw when teams are disadvantaged by the take foul — as well as removing the “experimental” designation from the play-in element to the postseason.
It wasn’t a surprise that the league changed the penalty on take fouls; Commissioner Adam Silver told The Associated Press in early June that it would change, though cautioned that the new rule might still be tweaked in future years.
The take foul — in which the defender does not make a play on the ball — is what the league classifies as one that occurs either “during a transition scoring opportunity or immediately following a change of possession and before the offensive team had the opportunity to advance the ball.” The exception is in the final 2 minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.
The new penalty for such a foul is one free throw, which may be attempted by any player on the offended team in the game at the time the foul was committed, and continued possession.
PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT » The play-in tournament has generally been considered a success, so it was no surprise that the league is keeping it around.
The play-in tournament — in its current form — has been used in each of the last two seasons, where the teams that finish seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th in each conference meet to determine the final two playoff spots in each conference.
The No. 7 team plays the No. 8 team, with the winner clinching the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. The No. 9 team plays the No. 10 team, with the loser eliminated and the winner moving on to face the team that lost the 7-8 game. The winner of that matchup is the No. 8 seed.
It’s been a hit, primarily because it tends to give a March Madness feel — four elimination games before the playoffs even begin — and gives more teams incentive to not tank for better odds in the draft lottery.
ABA PAYMENTS » The NBA and the NBPA announced a new program — jointly funded — to provide payments to approximately 115 ABA players who played at least three seasons but didn’t qualify for NBA pensions. They’ll get “recognition payments” of $3,828 per year of service.
• Golden State assistant coach Ron Adams is the winner of this year’s Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact Award, presented by the National Basketball Coaches Association.
Adams has spent more than 50 years in coaching and is entering his 30th year in the NBA. He is known as a defensive mastermind and a playerdevelopment guru, and has long been one of the game’s most respected assistants.
• New Orleans Pelicans secondround draft choice E.J. Liddell has been diagnosed with torn knee ligaments that will keep him out indefinitely, the club said Tuesday.
The injury to the 6-foot-6 forward from Ohio State occurred in the third quarter of a Summer League game in Las Vegas on Monday night against the Atlanta Hawks.
Malkin, Penguins agree on a new four-year deal
Evgeni Malkin is returning to the Pittsburgh Penguins after all, sticking around on the eve of free agency hours after the goalie carousel kept spinning around the NHL.
Malkin late Tuesday night signed a $24.4 million, four-year deal that counts $6.1 million against the salary cap through 2026. He had as recently as Monday told the team he was testing the market.
Before Malkin stole the headlines by re-signing, the Minnesota Wild added another shift to the NHL’s offseason goalie shuffle when they traded Cam Talbot to the Ottawa Senators for Filip Gustavsson.
• The Philadelphia Flyers placed forward Oskar Lindblom on waivers Tuesday with the intent of buying out the final year of the 25-yearold cancer survivor’s contract.
General manager Chuck Fletcher called it a “very difficult decision” to free up salary cap space by cutting a player who recovered from being diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma.
• Montreal is finally getting its long-promised women’s pro hockey franchise, though the Premier Hockey Federation put the brakes on adding a second expansion team entering its eighth season, the league announced Tuesday.
In unveiling the U.S.-based, privately backed league’s seventh franchise and second in Canada, PHF Commissioner Reagan Carey said it was in the sport’s best interest to take a slower approach toward growth to ensure long-term stability.
Commanders owner to testify remotely to House Committee
The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform has accepted an offer for Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder to testify virtually July 28.
Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney wrote a letter to attorney Karen Patton Seymour on Tuesday saying he would be allowed to testify via Zoom under the conditions set out by the committee’s initial subpoena “to ensure that Mr. Snyder’s testimony will be full and complete and will not be restricted in the way it would be if the deposition were conducted voluntarily.”
His camp has until today to confirm Snyder will appear before the committee, which launched an investigation into the team’s workplace culture last year after the league did not release a report of its independent review into the organization, which prompted a $10 million fine.
• A judge ruled Tuesday that results of a blood-alcohol test taken from former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III can be used as evidence in his DUI crash case.
Authorities said the 23-year-old Ruggs allegedly was driving 156 mph just seconds before the fiery November 2021 crash that left a woman dead and Ruggs and his female passenger injured.
Prosecutors have said Ruggs’ blood alcohol level after the crash several miles west of the Las Vegas Strip was 0.16%, which is twice the legal limit for drivers in Nevada.
Nielsen wins two-man sprint in Stage 10 of cycling race
Magnus Cort Nielsen won a twoman sprint in a photo-finish to claim the 10th stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday at the end of a hilly trek in the Alps that was interrupted by protestors.
It was Cort Nielsen’s second stage win at cycling’s biggest race after his maiden success in the medieval city of Carcassonne four years ago.
The Danish rider pipped Nick Schultz to the line by a few inches at the end of the long and exhausting climb to the Megeve ski resort after Luis Leon Sanchez, who ended third, launched the sprint.
Cort Nielsen fell on his back, exhausted, once he crossed the finish line.
“I can’t believe what just happened today, I was on the limit for so long on this climb,” he said. “I lost contact with the group a couple of times in the last kilometers. Luckily, it went all back together and I was there.”
Two-time defending champion Tadej Pogacar rode among a group of general contenders that crossed less than nine minutes behind and kept the race lead.
It looked like that Pogacar would relinquish his yellow jersey since Lennard Kämna at some point gained enough time in the day’s breakaway to dream about the tunic. But the chasing pack of favorites rode hard in the finale and the Slovenian kept hold of his lead.
Pogacar now leads Kämna by 11 seconds ahead of two daunting stages in the high mountains. Kämna is not expected to stay in contention in the thin air and Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark remains Pogacar’s most dangerous rival, 39 seconds off the pace.