Very few events were under as much scrutiny as Kawhi Leonard’s ankle injury in the Western Conference Finals. En route to taking a lead against the Golden State Warriors, the Spurs’ chances were effectively ended when Zaza Pachulia stepped under Leonard on a jump shot attempts, injuring the star forward’s ankle.
This season, the NBA is cracking down on similar incidents, hoping to incentivize more careful closeouts to ensure the game’s biggest stars are not injured at the most important time of the year.
According to the AP, NBA officials now have the power to go to replay after calling such a foul to upgrade it to a flagrant or assess a technical foul to the guilty party if they deem it reckless or unnecessary.
That’s not the only major point of emphasis that officials will be looking at. According to Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck, rip-through fouls on drives (or attempts by the offensive player to barrel into defenders to draw a foul) may no longer be called a shooting foul if the player has not yet gathered the ball at the time of contact. This move was made famous by James Harden as he executes it to perfection, but many other players have been following suit after seeing his success.
On Harden rule: Refs will be making distinction between fouls that occur on the drive or gather vs. fouls on actual shooting motion.
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) September 21, 2017
Short version: If a player has not yet gathered the ball when contact occurs, it’s a common foul, not a shooting foul.
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) September 21, 2017
Also, if refs determine that offensive player lunged into defender, or locked his arm to create contact, they could assess offensive foul
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) September 21, 2017
The key, as NBA officials put it, is "sequencing." If contact comes before player starts shooting motion, it's a common foul. No free throws
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) September 21, 2017
