The NBA has made a concerted effort to adjust the foul rules this season. They announced that players would not be given fouls in their favor if they bump into opposition defenders intentionally during the shot motion. And so far, it has had a massive impact on some of the NBA’s biggest stars.
Players like James Harden and Luka Doncic, who used to be experts at being able to draw contact and get to the foul line have endured a slow start to the season. Nets head coach Steve Nash felt that Harden had been unfairly made the poster child for the NBA’s new foul rules.
But one person who is a big fan of the new NBA rules is Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd. As revealed by Tim MacMahon, Kidd had some comments over the new NBA rules, and actually spoke about it in a positive light, especially considering the impact it has had on his team.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd made a point to note how much more physical NBA play has been this season. (Perhaps related: Luka Doncic is averaging only 4.7 free throw attempts per game — by far a career low — and the bruising Heat are in town tonight.)
Some of Kidd’s comments: pic.twitter.com/FJVgWNTUde
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) November 2, 2021
“You’re kind of seeing the physicality of the game now, and so we’re making the adjustment to that. Now do we stay that way? We’ll find out here shortly. If enough people complain, will it go back to what it was the last couple of years?”
“With the rule changes [regarding] a lot of the non-basketball moves, I think you can see that the game is starting to clean up. I think the question is just the physicality of the no-calls that have been taking place. Not the jumping into or seeking a foul. It’s more driving the ball, the hand-checking is at a high level right now. I think we’re just trying to figure out, are we going to be consistent that way or are we going to start calling a lot more fouls and be here for four hours? So we’re just trying to figure that out?”
Perhaps these comments were made keeping in mind that the Mavericks were taking on the Miami Heat, who have proven to be one of the best teams in the NBA when it comes to using their physicality. The Mavs did eventually lose to the Miami Heat, despite a solid performance from Luka Doncic.
Going forward, Luka and the Mavs will have to adjust to how the new NBA rules are playing out. But clearly, Kidd isn’t complaining about these rules and is in fact happy that this change has been made, despite how it affects his star player.
