Two-Minute Overtime!
Here’s another swell idea that the NBA uses in its Summer League games. If baseball is seriously considering automatically placing a runner on second base in extra-inning games, then the NBA should be willing to shorten its overtime by three minutes.
As I think the Summer League games proved, a two-minute overtime is much more exciting than the typical five-minute one. It makes every overtime possession that much more precious. There would be little to no margin for error. And, although I haven’t run the simulations, it seems to me that it would make it more likely that one team actually prevails after just one overtime.
Final Thoughts
The NBA game is constantly evolving. From the fun, run-and-gun 1980s; to the center-dominated, stifling defenses of the 1990s; to the current game, which is moving outward from the paint and toward a more active, passing, long-range-shooting style. The game and its players are always finding ways to score, to move the ball around, and to make every offensive possession more productive.
Next: Blazers stuck on sideline as NBA evolves
What do you think of these ideas? Any of them sound good to you — or is this just pie-in-the-sky, never-gonna-happen silliness?
Well, who says the NBA has to be so darn serious, huh? Let’s try some of these out. Let’s see what happens.
The players are changing the game, anyway. It’s time the league adopted some cool new rules to reflect the evolving styles, talents and skills of the men who take to the hardwood every night for our sporting entertainment.