Rule changes and referee inconstancy are hurting the NBA
The NBA game is changing and not for the better. Selective enforcement of rules, actual or imagined, is tearing apart a great sport.
Editor’s Note: We gave Teresa the week off from NBA takes. Chris Phillips steps in with his impressions of the league’s changing rules.
The NBA is arguably the second most popular sport in the world. Futbol holds the top honors. Additionally, the NBA is quickly becoming the second most culturally diverse American sport behind MLB. Basketball is a game that doesn’t take much equipment at all to play. A ball and some sort of basket are all that’s needed.
Since the ’80s, the NBA has changed drastically and not just the length of shorts. Back in those days, the men played hard, and refs didn’t call soft fouls. If you don’t believe me, go back and watch the game films.
Most of today’s players wouldn’t be able to handle that kind of physicality. What did the Showtime Lakers, Detroit Bad Boys, and Chicago Bulls dynasty have in common? Enforcers. Arguably, the NBA’s peak was in the ’90s. That was a blend of the physicality from the ’80s with some more modernization of today’s game.
But there is a storm coming. A storm that the NBA may not like. A storm that will turn off more fans from watching this beautiful game. This isn’t a reference to players forming super teams or getting involved in the fight for social injustice.
I’m referring to rule changes that have taken place recently that are killing the league. Most of the rule changes aid the offense. The league believes these rule changes make the game more enjoyable to watch. But that is a debate for a later date. Some more egregious rule changes are the rip through, brake check, and pump and jump. And to think it started innocently enough with Manu Ginobli bringing over the Euro-Step.