Table of Contents
Every offseason various sports leagues take the time to revise and revisit rules. The NBA is no different, treating its offseason period as a time to reflect and possibly change some of its rules to enhance the game.
Any NBA bettor or pool player should be aware of these new rule changes, no matter how big or small. You never know which rules might directly impact your fantasy players or teams. Take Amare Stoudemire for instance, who left the Phoenix Suns bench too early during a crucial playoff game. Suns bettors and Stoudemire fantasy owners were none too pleased.
Let’s go through some of the recent NBA rule changes that are important to take note of. Also check out the various RYP basketball pools and contests. Play for free in our NBA Starting 5 Contests, picking five players to play against others through the week!
What Are The New NBA Rules?
There are a handful of new NBA rules that bettors, fantasy players and pool players should be made aware of. Here are the most recent and important rules to note moving forward.
Take Foul Comes With A Bigger Penalty This Year
There was an issue with lack of transitions in the NBA due to foul taking, in which a player fouls another player with the ball but doesn’t make a play on the ball. This is known as a ‘take foul’ because the player is taking a foul to prevent a transition basket.
To prevent teams from taking advantage of the foul counts, the new take rule implies that any more ‘take fouls’ will result in a free throw for the other team. So in a sense, it’s a technical foul as the free throw shooting team also retains possession.
Scoring Reviews & The Blue Light
The NBA officiating hub in New Jersey will look at scoring plays and signal to a blue flashing light when needed. If there is a change in the score based on replay, then the change and announcement will take place during the next dead ball period.
The big difference with reviews this season is the review in action however. The officiating hub is able to review the play while the game is still in action. This is done to prevent the game from slowing down, or killing the pace and momentum by having referees stop action to review a video.
More ‘Respect For The Game’
This falls into the referee’s jurisdiction and is ultimately a judgment call. Basically, the league is tired of seeing its players and officials constantly fighting – and who can blame them. The NBA has asked referees to implement the ‘Respect For The Game’ rule which, in layman’s terms, asks players not to throw a temper tantrum towards referees.
Bench Conduct Will Be Closely Monitored
Amare Stoudemire is probably asking how this could be monitored more closely? Suns fans remember the star center being suspended from an NBA playoff game after leaving the bench following a shove by Roberty Horry to Steve Nash. Who could forget Joey Crawford giving Tim Duncan a technical foul for laughing on the bench either?
This actually has more to do with players wandering onto the court too often. The problem is actually much larger with coaches in college basketball, but the NBA felt it necessary to warn NBA teams before the season that players can no longer crowd the court or baselines.
