NBA to Introduce Big Rule Change Involving Last-Second Heaves Next Season

Liam McKeone | Sep 10, 2025

Half court heaves as time expires will no longer count against a player's shooting percentage. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

After testing it out in Summer League this year, the NBA is instituting a big rule change for next season.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Wednesday that half court heaves as time expires will no longer count against an individual player's field goal percentage. It will still count as a field goal for the team but similar to end-of-game turnovers where players are just trying to run out the clock it will no longer be an individual statistic.

It's a fun rule change. Players passing up the chance to throw up a shot as time expires because they didn't want to lower their field goal percentage was a nightly occurrence in years past. It's understandable to an extent given their salary is tied to how well they can shoot the ball, but it certainly was not a decision based on the ultimate goal of winning the game.

There will be plenty of big names like Steph Curry and Nikola Jokic who will not be affected by the rule change given their penchant for throwing it up no matter where they are on the court. But this should lead to an increase in last-second chucking from beyond midcourt.

---

More NBA on Sports Illustrated

feed