Former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas played his last NBA game over 10 years ago, but he continues to make himself relevant thanks to his podcast, ‘The Gilbert Arenas Show.’ There, he talks about a wide range of topics ranging from life to basketball, and he frequently goes viral for some of his more outlandish takes.
Recently, when asked which NBA rule he would change, Arenas explained his issue with offensive goal-tending and how it wrongfully punishes good offensive play.
“As an offensive player, the goal is to put the ball in the basket by any means necessary right? So if the ball goes and bounces, the reason that we’re athletic is we can do shit a lot of people can’t do. So if the ball is in the cylinder, what is the point of us not interfering with it? If my players are able to go and dunk it back in, that should be part of the game. It doesn’t benefit nothing for calling an offensive interference on something like that.”
What NBA rule would you change or add? pic.twitter.com/8HsnfQn9WQ
— Gil’s Arena (@GilsArenaShow) May 25, 2023
Basket interference is called when a player touches the ball that is still above the cylinder of the rim. The reason behind this rule is to prevent an unfair advantage for the offensive team and ensure that both teams have an opportunity to get the rebound after a shot. The change was implemented due to Wilt Chamberlain, who was unstoppable catching lobs to the basket.
When you think about it, the rule does make sense even if it often gets ignored by the officials today. And while Arenas wants to see this changed, the NBA has much bigger problems to deal with at the moment.
Gilbert Arenas Has More Criticisms About Modern NBA
Like many ex-players, Arenas has been highly critical of the modern NBA. According to him, we focus far too much on individual greatness over the performance of teams and it has warped how fans view the league as a whole.
“Nobody wants to watch great teams play. They want to watch great dominant players. For the consumer, Jokic’s game is not s**y. It’s s**y for basketball players, like, oh man, what he’s doing is unreal. But if you’re not like Giannis or Ja Morant, jumping out of the gym, putting your elbows in the backboard, or you’re shooting 50-foot three-pointers. Other than that, what are the stars doing in those big cities? So, no matter how you sell them, unless he’s in Boston, New York, LA, no one’s going to be paying attention to their game.”
No matter where you stand on these issues, it’s clear that not everybody agrees on what’s best for the league. Of course, the only opinion that matters is Adam Silver, and it’s only a matter of time before we see him make some more tweaks to the NBA experience.
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