Should the NBA penalize offensive charges?

The first day of the playoffs in the NBA has left dozens of interesting moments and conclusionss. But unfortunately some of it has to do with setbacks suffered by a pair of superstars. He was barely running the first quarter when Giannis Antetokounmpo fell to the ground violently and suffered a blow to the lower back.

The Greek tried to come back in the second quarter, but He only lasted a minute and a half until he had to return to the locker room. In it Grizzlies-Lakers, Ja Morant also suffered a nasty fall on his wrist that prevented him from playing the last five minutes of the game and threatens to make him lose a game.

Both costalazos have something in common: are preceded by an attempt by the defender to provoke the foul in attack. In Morant’s case, Anthony Davis got away with itwhile Kevin Love was flagged for a defensive offense.

Offensive charges under debate

The point is that The pair of actions has aroused some debate on social networks about the arbitration of this type of play. Detractors argue that standing with your feet still in front of the attacker who is going in a clear run towards the hoop “it’s not defending” and that they are actions that should always be penalized in favor of the attack.

The debate has not remained a mere discussion on Twitter. Chris Herringeditor-in-chief of the prestigious portal ‘Sports Illustrated‘, writes in his last column that the current offensive charge rule is outdated due to speed noticeably higher which is played now with respect to when it was written.

It would not be the first time in recent times that the league modifies its rules to protect the health of the attacker. In 2020began to beep like flagrant foul of shooting defenses that encroach on the shooter’s landing space, about all from Kawhi Leonard’s controversial ankle injury in 2017 with Zaza Pachulia as the executioner.

However, this is a very different topic. precisely because in these cases it is the attacker who invades a space that belongs to the defender. Well, both Davis and Love are standing before Giannis and Ja make their beat.

Since the beginning of the century, arbitration in the NBA has tended to benefit the attacker. Not only with standardized norms such as three defensive seconds in zone. but the whistle defensive contact punishes more than ever and benefits the attacker who initiates such contact.

The entrails of show culture

This has even a sociocultural base. The culture of thehighlight’ and the ‘poster’ swollen by social networks makes players feel spurred on when attempting this type of play even putting his own physical integrity at risk.

Forcing offensive free kicks taking advantage of an excessive inertia of the attacker is a practice that has been established in the league for many years. That dozens of players in the NBA have the physical aptitudes to try the mate or the tray making his last support several meters from the hoop is something relatively new.

The truth is that, taking into account the way in which this type of play is whistled, do not make the gesture of hiding the arms when they step sideways to plant their feet notably increases the possibility of offense in defense.

The attack, and the figures show it, suffers an explosion that has a great ally in the whistle without need to introduce rules that strip defenses of the few tools they already have. But it would be unreasonable for us the league studied these situations due to the noise that arose in its media environment in the last 24 hours. And how do you see it?