By Brandon Epstein
Since when has acting become such a huge part of the NBA? Do fans enjoy watching SGA throw his head back every time he gets touched to try and bait the refs into calling a foul? What about when somebody breathes on Joel Embiid a little too hard and the 300-pounder all the sudden goes flying to the ground and chucks the ball up at the last second to get free throws. If this isn’t enough to get fans riled up, what about when Jalen Brunson catches a defender on his back and decides to do the classic stop dribbling and jump backwards while flailing your legs out into the defender to draw a foul? None of these moves are basketball moves and are just bullshit tactics to get the refs to blow their whistle.
As more players are starting to use foul-baiting tactics to their advantage fans are becoming frustrated with the number of free throws in games. These free throws are due to foul-baiting and how much it slows the game down. Players used to have to earn their buckets, and when they got fouled, it was very obvious contact. Now, players will emphasize any slight contact to get a foul call, and this has to change.
The NBA has stood against foul-baiting in the past, with the creation of a rule to counteract one of the most common ways players would foul-bait, known as “The Harden Rule”. James Harden was one of the best players in the NBA and pretty much created a new strategy where he would launch himself into nearby defenders to draw contact with them as he was shooting to draw a foul. This is the definition of foul baiting, as a player would normally never do this if they were trying to make the shot in the first place. The Harden Rule was implemented so that players could not lean into a defender or use unnatural or non-basketball moves to draw a foul. This rule has certainly helped with the foul-baiting issue, but players are still finding new ways to exploit the refs. The same superstars are constantly doing this to get to the free-throw line at an absurd rate.
Not only has the foul baiting issue caused frustration to fans for constantly having “soft” foul calls by players flopping a but it has also slowed the game down tremendously. It is very boring for fans to watch the same players take free throws 20 times a game.
While the actual length of games has not increased that significantly, since the 2016-2017 season there has been an increase in stoppages. A major part of stoppages is due to more fouls being called, which gives fans the perception that the game has slowed down.
The NBA has shown that it knows there is a foul-baiting issue and has commented on this matter in the past. Previous exploitations have resulted in rule changes that have bettered the game, it’s time for a change to address foul baiting as well.
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