Competition committee meeting to discuss possible rules changes
The NBA's competition committee met in Las Vegas on Monday to review several potential rule changes involving playoff seeding, intentional fouling, the mandatory free-agency moratorium period and the replay review center, reports ESPN.com’s Kevin Arnovitz.
According to the report, nothing was decided during the meeting, as the NBA's Board of Governors is also scheduled to meet on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has said he is “on the fence” about players intentionally fouling away from the ball, also known as the "Hack-a-Shaq” technique.
During this year’s Western Conference first-round playoff series between the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers, the Spurs sent Clippers center DeAndre Jordan to the free-throw line 17 times during an overtime victory in Game 2. Jordan, who made 39.7 percent of his free-throws during the regular season, only made six of his attempts.
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The league will also look at potentially changing the playoff series seeding. Currently, the four division winners in each conference earn top seeds.
The Portland Trail Blazers won the Northwest Division and earned the No. 4 seed with a 51-31 record, which was the sixth-best record in the Western Conference. Both the Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio each finished with 55 wins, but were seeded fifth and sixth. The Spurs were forced to play the Clippers in the first round, with the defending champions ultimately losing in seven games.
Another issue involving the Clippers and Jordan occurred during the free agent period, when Jordan verbally agreed to a four-year, $80 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks during the league's moratorium period, which started July 1.
Jordan changed his mind after Clippers players and officials converged on his Houston residence the night before the moratorium expired. He ultimately signed a four-year, $88 million deal to return to Los Angeles.
The competition committee also examined rules instituted by the NBA Development League last season, which included the league’s coaches having "challenges" to argue calls and allowing teams to advance the ball to halfcourt without calling a timeout.
- Scooby Axson
