Trae Young and James Harden force the NBA to take a deep look at the rule book and potentially implement changes next season.
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It is no secret that Trae Young has quickly developed into a very dangerous player on the offensive end of the floor. The player is capable of scoring on all three levels, even in the most threatening of environments. But that isn’t quite his most dangerous quality on the court. No, it’s his almost infuriating ability to draw fouls.
Now, drawing fouls is nothing new. It’s been done for decades on an end, with the occasional high-IQ player getting more calls than normal.
But, when James Harden made the leap to MVP talent, he took the concept of foul-drawing and elevated it to an art form. And fortunately for the Hawks, it is one that Ice Trae has quite the aptitude for.
Both players are difficult to predict without the foul drawing as it is. However, this ability to unconventionally throw themselves at defenders to get calls just takes it to a level that something close to cheating sometimes. And well, it seems that the NBA has recognized this.
Recently, Shams Charania of The Athletic dropped a bomb on the NBA world. And let’s just say, it’s not one that the Hawks and Nets stars will like to look at.
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Shams Charania reveals potential rule changes to limit stars like Trae Young next season
Clearly, the NBA has had enough of these shenanigans.
Analysts have spoken for years now, about how the rule book favors offense greatly. And frankly, we couldn’t help but agree with that as well.
There have been times where a defensive player did nothing wrong but was called for the foul. Players’ have often been jumping abnormally on jump shots to draw fouls, hook the defender’s arms, or sometimes simply flop even when there is no contact. And understandably, fans of the NBA have become quite infuriated with time, about the whole situation.
In response to this, the league has finally decided to take a long hard look at their rule book. And in a recent tweet, Shams Charania specifies just what the areas of focus will be during these discussions.
NBA referees will be trained to properly officiate the following actions used to draw fouls:
– Shooter launches/leans into defender at abnormal angle
– Shooter kicks leg at abnormal angle
– Offensive player abruptly veers off path (sideways/ backwards) into defender https://t.co/9OzldXvH6u
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 22, 2021
Defenders around the league must be shedding tears of joy right now.
Perhaps for one day, defensive specialists from every team can rejoice together today. Because it may not be too long before ‘offense vs defense’ isn’t such a one-sided game anymore.
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