LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers requests that the NBA make big changes to the nonsense rule.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have been out of the playoffs for almost a month. However, due to his passion of basketball, James has maintained a close eye on the postseason activities. James was outspoken about what he would have done if he had been in the Indiana Pacers’ position in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Finals matchup against the Boston Celtics, and during the Dallas Mavericks’ 108-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, he also expressed his strong opinion on an NBA rule that he doesn’t understand.
The Lakers star lamented the fact that the NBA only allows clubs to use two challenges, despite their success in both. This struck a nerve with James because the Mavericks, who had successfully used two challenges in the third quarter of Game 1 of their Western Conference Finals clash against the Timberwolves, would not have the option of appealing a questionable call for the remainder of the game.
“We need to alter that challenge rule! There’s no way you can have two successful challenges and then be unable to complete the rest of the game! “Makes absolutely no sense,” James remarked on his official Twitter (X) account.
Mavericks supporters will agree with LeBron James’ assessment; after all, why should Dallas be penalized for contesting patently erroneous rulings from officials?
Mavericks burn their challenges in quick succession
In the third quarter, the Mavericks found themselves in a scrap with the Timberwolves. The two sides were trading blows, so every possession counted. Thus, with 4:09 left in the third quarter, head coach Jason Kidd chose to dispute an out-of-bounds ruling on a play in which it appeared that Anthony Edwards had lost the ball on his own.
As expected, the Mavericks won the challenge and recovered the ball. Furthermore, they kept their timeout and the option to challenge another play. This might have come in handy if the officials had blown another call at a more critical stage of the game. However, Kidd was forced to utilize another challenge after only two minutes, when the referees asked for a jumpball on an out of bounds call because it was unclear which player the ball hit last.
Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the ball ricocheted out of bounds off the foot of a Timberwolves player. Again, the Mavericks were correct to challenge the call. While TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy stated that using the challenge wasn’t the best option in that case because the ball wasn’t awarded to the Timberwolves anyhow, it’s difficult to fault the Mavericks for attempting to reverse the ruling, especially when the challenge went their way.
A short history of the NBA challenge rule that’s not quite to LeBron James’ liking
The NBA implemented the challenge rule during the 2019-20 season. This challenge gave coaches the option to request a replay review of a foul, out-of-bounds violation, goaltending or basket interference violation.
During the first four years of the rule, teams were only allowed one challenge per game, regardless of whether it was successful. This made the challenge rule less rewarding than it may have been. However, prior to the start of the 2023-24 season, the league accepted a rule amendment that allowed teams to challenge again if they were successful the first time.
LeBron James certainly wants more changes, but too many challenges might break the rhythm of a game. At the very least, completing two successful challenges should be satisfying rather than restricting. Fortunately for the Mavericks, it was not too damaging, as they defeated the Timberwolves in Game 1.
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