Game seven of the 2018 NBA Western Conference Finals: the Harden lead Rockets face off against the Curry lead Warriors. The fans are hyped, but they soon realise that every time the ball leaves the player’s hands, it’s from behind the three-point line. Miss after miss, the rockets continue throwing up long range shots. Soon, the graphic shows up on the big screen, the rockets have missed 27 consecutive three-point shots. As the final buzzer goes off, the Warriors win a low scoring game 101-92. The following morning, sports analysts across the nation came to one conclusion: the Rockets lost because they shot way too many three-point shots.
Rule changes have always been a core part of sports. As players and technology develop overtime, it is necessary for rules and regulations to adapt as well. The NBA has implemented many targeted rule changes in recent years, altering small aspects of play that have little-to-no effect on the larger flow of the game. There needs to be major rule changes in the NBA to make it more entertaining for both casual and die hard fans. Other big sports leagues like the NFL and MLB have made recent major changes to their rules that improved viewership experience significantly. For example, the MLB recently confronted their slow play by adding a pitch clock, in addition to removing major defensive shifts and increasing the size of bases.
The most clear problem with the current NBA is the excess amount of threes being taken every game. Before the three-point line was added to the NBA in 1979, the game was predominantly dominated by tall and strong players who were good at converting short range shots. The three-point line was added in an attempt to create body diversity in the game and allow an opportunity for shorter and faster players to make a significant impact on the game. The present day NBA has the exact opposite problem. Nearly 40 percent of the shots in today’s NBA are behind the three-point arc. Players are turning down easy two-point shots in favor of attempting contested threes. Being a good shooter at all levels has become a necessity. Old school physical basketball has slowly faded away. An increase in shooting skill has made it statistically favorable to shoot more threes. This may be beneficial for teams, but it just isn’t good for the development of the game of basketball. Players who are considered stars are those who are the best at shooting, rather than those who are the best at defending and finishing at the rim. As fans, it gets boring seeing missed shot after missed shot with little to no defense being played.
There are many different solutions that are being pitched to the NBA, for example, moving the three-point line back, adding a four-point line and getting rid of the three-point line all together. In my opinion, the solution to this is to change the point value of baskets. Currently, threes are worth 150 percent of a two-point shot. Instead of twos and threes, we can change the scoring system to threes and fours or even fours and fives. This keeps the aspect of a higher value long distance shot without moving the line back. At the same time, a close range shot will be worth more in comparison to a long range shot than it was previously, shifting the NBA back to a more physical and big-man dominated league. Bad shooters will no longer shoot threes because the risk vs reward will be too high.
This drastic rule change doesn’t have to be immediately implemented into the NBA. There are opportunities to experiment with different styles of a certain sport. For example, the golf industry has developed a unique league called TGL that plays indoors on an extremely large simulator screen. The PGA had been struggling with pace of play, and so the TGL was introduced as an experimental league while still allowing traditional golf to continue. Simulator golf is able to add shot clocks while also eliminating the down time of walking to your ball, increasing the amount of time that viewers are actually watching players hit golf balls. The point is the NBA doesn’t need to immediately enforce extreme rule changes immediately. They can create separate leagues, or change rules in their developmental G League to see if these adjustments could be successful. If some rule changes seem to work overtime, they can be added into the NBA.
Another problem in the NBA is load management. Imagine saving up for weeks to go watch your favorite NBA team, but your excitement dissipates as you see your favorite player sitting on the sideline in sweatpants and a hoodie. Unfortunately, this is the reality for many fans as more and more star players are sitting out of regular season games to rest and avoid injury. The current player participation states that “no more than one star player is unavailable for the same game.” This still allows one star player to sit without an injury and sends a bad message to fans that some games are less valuable than others. These players are getting paid tens of millions a year, and therefore should be required to play every game they can. Without experiencing a season ending injury, star 76ers player Joel Embid has only played in approximately 60% of his career regular season games. The NBA needs to more strictly enforce these player participation rules, and require star players to play if they are not injured.
People argue that the 82 game season is the reason NBA games don’t feel important, but the NBA has had many 82 game seasons in the past with significant success. The main thing the NBA needs to incorporate is primetime games. The NFL does this perfectly, having designated games on certain nights like Sunday Night Football. These games are regular season games, but they feel important because they are advertised properly. These primetime games also keep their announcers consistent, which make their voices feel inconically connected to important games. The NBA has specific games that are broadcasted on national TV, but they aren’t given any unique title or advertising scheme.
The NBA is an entertainment product like many others. No matter how well known the NBA is, they still need proper advertising to keep consistent viewership. The NBA has been relying on well-established stars like Lebron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry to stay relevant in the sporting world. However, the league needs to shift their focus to future stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) and Victor Wembenyama. This is apparent when last year, in terms of advertising, the NBA cup was given high relevance because Lebron James and the Lakers won it. This year, however, the NBA cup finals didn’t create a lot of advertising buzz, even though there were big names like SGA and Giannis Antetokounmpo playing. The NBA was put in a ratings slump after Michael Jordan retired. Lebron’s inevitable retirement will exponentially detriment the NBA ratings unless the NBA finds a way to make fans excited for the future.
Furthermore, officiating needs to drastically change in the NBA. Currently, the styles of NBA officials heavily favor offensive players. Even when defenders only make slight infractions, the refs usually give the benefit of the doubt to the offense. Though this may result in more points, it also causes there to be a lot of free throws and demotivates defenders. Refs need to allow players to be physical. Basketball is a contact sport, a foul should only be called when there is forcible contact.
Though these adjustments may seem extreme, other sports leagues in the past have consistently shown that changing major rules can be beneficial for their sport. The NFL added an extra week to their regular season, the NHL implemented the penalty shootout and college football added an extra eight teams to their playoff. All these changes were initially controversial, but they all began to resonate with fans overtime. Specifically with the NBA, the introduction of the NBA cup shows that they are willing to make significant changes to the league. They just have to find the right changes that will make the game more entertaining for fans in this modern age. The history of rule changes in sports show that all changes will come with initial doubt, but if executed properly they often result in a net positive for the leagues.
Variations of traditional sports have proven to be successful in the past, most notably, the Big3 league, which is a league started in 2017 that features three-on-three basketball. The game is unique in that it only uses half the court with the option to shoot four-point shots. The scoring system plays first to 50 with half time being when one team gets 25 points. Having unique scoring systems make games more engaging towards the beginning and end of matches. For example, in tennis, the system of sets allows there to be exciting moments in the match well before it is over. Nobody would watch tennis if it was scored the same way as basketball. The Big3 league also instigates a faster playstyle only rewarding one free throw per shooting foul. When the league was originally announced, many saw it as a joke. They didn’t think this “blacktop” style basketball could be a sustainable league. However, the league has proven to be successful, averaging half a million views per game in addition to featuring former NBA players such as Allen Iverson. The success of this league proves that an unorthodox version of basketball can be appealing to fans. Obviously, changing the entire NBA is not sustainable, but incorporating some of these features may be beneficial for the success of the league.
The time for change in the NBA is now; by addressing these key issues, the league has an opportunity to reconnect their fans and create excitement within the world of basketball. Just as other leagues have adapted to maintain relevance, the NBA needs to embrace innovation and changes to improve its future.
