The NBA takes a new course in its quest for the show. From the regular season 2025-2026, the American league changed its statistical rules to encourage daring fire at the end of the quarter. This measure, called “Heave Rule”, aims to eliminate the reluctance of players to try “prayers” in the buzzer for fear of damaging their success percentages.
The NBA will implement a new change for the 2025-26 season: unsuccessful end-of-period heaves will now be recorded as a missed field-goal attempt for the team, not the player, sources tell ESPN. Those long heaves will no longer impact an individual player’s percentages.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 10, 2025
According to information reported by Shams Charaniadistant shots failed in the last three seconds of the first three quarters will now be counted as a failed shot for the team, but not for the individual player. In case of success, nothing changes: the basket remains credited with the shooter.
Strict criteria to avoid drifts
For a shot to be classified as “heave” according to the criteria defined by NBA, several conditions must be met. The shot must be launched in the last 3 seconds of the first, second or third quarter, come from the defensive zone or from a very short part of the offensive zone, and be taken at least 36 feet of the arch, or about 11 meters.
This modification, tested during the 2024-2025 season in G-League then applied in Summer Leagueanswers a very real statistical problem. According to Sporttradarthe general percentage of address of these very long distance shots taken at the very end of the period is only 4%. Last season, only 12 attempts found the net path, with Stephen Curry in mind (4 successes) followed by Nikola Jokic (3 successes).
In a context where individual statistics are increasing, especially to trigger certain contractual bonuses, players could be chilly at the idea of trying these desperate shots. The NBA therefore hopes to generate more spectacular actions to garnish its highlights, while preserving the integrity of individual statistics.
This regulatory development is part of the overall league strategy to maximize entertainment, now encouraging players to take calculated risks without fear of the statistical consequences of their failures.
