G League to try out multipoint foul shot
The NBA would like nothing more than for its games to be wrapped up in a two-hour package, but reaching that goal has proven to be a challenge. The league was able to shave more than five minutes off its average non-overtime game length in the 2017-18 season after instituting new rules that reduced the number of timeouts, standardized halftime length and prohibited free throw shooters from wandering off between shots, but that still left non-overtime games that season with an average length of 2:11.
But then the NBA placed a greater emphasis on freedom of movement in 2018-19, and more fouls were called: 41.8 per game, up from 39.6 the season before. Through Dec. 6 last season, the average game length had ticked up more than two minutes, according to Forbes.
So it’s a conundrum: In its attempt to make its product as entertaining as possible, the NBA has instituted rules that both decrease and increase the length of its games. This season it has a new idea, one that will get a tryout in the G League: An experimental free throw rule in which players will shoot only one foul shot, with the value of that made free throw dependent on the type of foul that was committed (one point for a nonshooting foul, two for a foul on a regular field goal, three for fouling a three-point attempt).
The new rule won’t apply to end-of-game situations: Traditional free throw rules will apply to the final two minutes of regulation and overtime to prevent trailing teams from intentionally fouling even earlier. But Brad Walker, head of basketball operations for the G League, told ESPN’s Zach Lowe that the new free throw concept could shave six to eight minutes off the length of a game. G League games run about 2:05, thanks to a number of experimental rules that include shorter shot clock resets on advances, shorter overtime periods and reset timeouts, which allow teams to advance the ball up the court and make substitutions but not huddle in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and in overtime.
The worry with this rule change is that, with only one free throw, it will drive down everyone’s free throw percentage. Over the past 20 seasons, ESPN notes, NBA players have historically shot the worst on their first free throw attempt: 73.3 per cent. That improves to 78 per cent on the second and 85.7 per cent on the third.