With the monumental 4 team trade landing James Harden with the Brooklyn Nets, the NBA acted quickly to resolve the uncertainty.
James Harden led the league in PPG for the modified 2019-2020 season with 34.3 PPG. He now joins superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving who are power scores in their own capacities. And so many fans across the league were left confused with Harden being traded to the Nets. For one instance, take the tweet: “@NBA … there is still only ONE ball!!!”
Seeing the flood of comments pour in, the NBA had to act quickly… and they did just that.
Just 2 days after the trade announcement, the NBA instituted a new policy regarding all games played by the Brooklyn Nets for the remainder of this season. Starting with the game today against the Orlando Magic, all Nets games will feature three official game balls to be in play simultaneously. The rule change was approved swiftly by NBA’s board of governors.
RULE NO. 1: Court Dimensions – Equipment
Section II—Equipment
h. All NBA games featuring the Brooklyn Nets either playing home or away will require 3 balls as described in (f) to be in play at all times. Stoppage from one ball will lead to the remaining 2 balls to continue play.
SOURCE: official nba rulebook
A commendable effort by the league in order to ensure that the super star trio will still each have their reasonable number of touches each game. Yet, a flurry of questions remained.
How will the teams play defense when there are three balls in motion?
The NBA is an offensive sport, defense is not needed when you add more scoring.
NBA Press
How will statistics for other teams be affected where there is only one ball?
Other teams will simply have to increase the pace of their game in order to match the output of the Brooklyn Nets. It would be unfair to penalize James Harden for joining a superteam.
NBA Press
What will broadcasts change in order for the fans at home to see all the action on TV?
Local and National broadcasts have broadcast rights to show NBA basketball featuring a single ball in motion, they may choose to track a single ball at a time. If viewers want to see the increased action, they must subscribe to NBA League Pass which has exclusive rights to show all three balls at once.
NBA Press
The NBA has shown time and time again it is ready to adapt to the changing environment of the league. The progressive sports organization is the first across the major leagues to introduce this degree of multiplicity to the game.
Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden now have a chance to play the game of basketball their way: isolation themselves.