The NBA is tweaking its rules for coaching challenges for the new 2021-22 season. Moving forward, the coaches will be able to challenge the out-of-bounds ruling the final two minutes of the game. The rule will apply for the overtimes as well.
According to ESPN, the new rule was approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors on a trial basis. Previously, the coaches could not use their challenge on out-of-bounds with the review of such play being initiated by referees.
The league also detailed the “interpretive change in the officiating of overt, abrupt or abnormal non-basketball moves” that are made by basketball players with the intention to draw a foul. This included the description of the moves and clips that demonstrate them.
The situations that will no longer result in an offensive foul include leaning into a defender at “an abnormal angle,” using the off arm to initiate contact, and “overtly” extending a portion of a body into a defender.
The league announced these changes back in September, saying that the goal is to remove “manipulation” from the game of basketball.
“We want there to be equal opportunities to compete with passion and skill,” Monty McCutchen, NBA senior vice president, said at the time. “And we want flow in the game, and we want the game of basketball to be played as the game of basketball—not individual 1-on-1-offs in an attempt to get the most efficiency.”
