NBA Summer League to Implement New Free Throw Rule

This year’s NBA Summer League will see a significant new rule in action. The NBA announced that a “one free throw rule” will be implemented in the Summer League events taking place this month in Northern California, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas.

This rule, already in effect in the G League since the 2019-20 season, aims to reduce game duration and speed up play.

Under this rule, fouls that would typically award one, two, or three free throws will now result in just a single free throw attempt. The scoring for this attempt will still equal the total points that would have been gained from the standard free throw(s).

However, it’s worth noting that this rule won’t apply throughout the entire game. In the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and during overtime, regular free throw rules will still be in place.

Whether this one-free-throw rule will be adopted in regular NBA games is still uncertain. The Summer League often serves as a testing ground for potential changes, similar to minor and independent league practices. Previous innovations tested at this level, like the coach’s challenge to reset the shot clock and the one-shot foul rule, eventually made their way to the NBA.

Additionally, the G League features 10-minute quarters, a concept that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has publicly supported. The league had experimented with 11-minute quarters previously but has opted for 10-minute sessions in exhibition matches since the 2020 “bubble”.

The Summer League kicks off on July 9th. It should be interesting to see how this new rule plays out and what it could mean for future games.