The NBA Board of Governors has approved two new rule changes for the 2023-2024 NBA season, regarding coach challenges and flopping, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Just in: The NBA Board of Governors has approved two new gameplay changes for the 2023-24 season, per sources:
– In-game penalty for flops resulting in technical foul free throw
– A second coach’s challenge awarded if first challenge is successful– Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 11, 2023
The first rule change is that if a coach’s first challenge is successful, that team will be rewarded with a second challenge. This is how challenges work in the NFL and it makes more sense. If the referees miss a call, a coach should not be penalized for fixing the problem by losing a challenge.
In theory, a team should not lose the challenge until it unsuccessfully challenges a call, but that would slow the pace of the game too much. An additional challenge seems a nice middle ground.
The catch is that a team must have a timeout to call a challenge. If the first challenge is successful, the team will keep its timeout. During a second challenge, the team loses a timeout regardless of whether it is successful or not.
The second change to NBA rules is that flopping will be punished with a penalty. If the referees determine that a player flops during the match, the opposing team will be awarded a free throw for a technical foul.
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