Ahead of Week 1 of the NBA Playoffs, we had a clear winner: injuries.
Two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and Grizzlies star Ja Morant were forced out of their opener on Sunday after suffering nasty falls when two opposing players sought to pull calls against them. With Antetokounmpo’s back ill, and Morant’s right hand in so much pain that he couldn’t unbutton a pair of cramped socks, it’s likely that his entire postseason look will change. Case in point: The Bucks and Grizzlies dropped their first game to the No. 8 and No. 7 seeds, respectively, after injuries. (Last year’s Sixth Man Award winner, Tyler Hero of Miami, also fractured his right hand.)
The timing of the illnesses raised questions about whether the NBA’s charging/blocking rules make sense anymore in a league where speed and athleticism are greater than they ever have been. The fact is that they don’t. At least not as written at the moment. There’s a lot riding on the shoulders of the stars who make these kinds of plays possible in the first place. There should be no incentive for defensive players to position themselves in a way that invites this type of high-risk contact multiple times per game.
There is often confusion for players, coaches, and fans alike as to what constitutes a charge for a block. The clearest and most general way to explain the charge, according to league officials, is When a defender gets in the way of an attacking player before contact occurs And before the attacking player hits the ball. The defender must be outside the restricted area to earn the call.
Here’s the problem with that logic, though. It allows defenders to slip into place—sometimes under an airborne offensive player—at the last millisecond, creating a dangerous situation for each of the people involved. At a minimum, the rule could and should be changed to require defenders to be set before offensive players collect the ball for a shot or pass, to give ball coaches enough time to avoid contact that would lead to such a bad drop.
On Sunday, Morant, arguably the loudest player in the entire league, collected the ball and began attempting a shot when Lakers star Anthony Davis appeared to establish position in the paint to pull the charge. The result was that Morant’s plane crashed to the ground and his hand was shot. Although his x-rays came back negative, he described his pain as “about 10,” and seemed not entirely sure if he would be able to play in Game 2.
After Hours, Heat Big Man Kevin Love –who ranked second in the league that season with 33 tackles– slid into the path of Antetokounmpo, who fell straight on his back after colliding with Love while in the air and began writhing in pain. He returned shortly after and scored a basket, but then went to the locker room and was eliminated from the contest soon after. Like Morant, Antetokounmpo’s X-rays came back negative, and his future condition is questionable.
To be clear: neither play was sloppy. But that’s partly the problem: With the current rules, defenders are more incentivized to stand in front of someone – and in doing so, possibly hurt them – rather than play for the ball. The two highly athletic superstars would almost certainly not be injured on those plays if the rules forced defenders to jump into opposing attempts rather than slip into place to beat a player close in mid-air to a spot for a charge.
While it’s clear that something needs to change, it’s also fair to suggest that simply removing the shipping/blocking rules would make things very messy. The situation requires a careful approach. Will defenders have any chance of stopping someone like Giannis – or Morant, even – over the ledge if they can’t jump that high? And if fees aren’t a thing anymore, will you simply encourage a player like Antetokounmpo to play more physically?
Antetokounmpo – Already the most relentlessly physical player in the NBA –An incredible 148 charges have been called over the past five seasons. To put that in context, Julius Randle, the closer, was whistled for 84. In one brutal play earlier this season, Antetokounmpo slashed through Suns striker Torrey Craig, a friend and former teammate.
The sequence left Craig without a tooth. “I actually ended up picking up several pieces of teeth from the playground,” Craig told me recently. “The dentist told me it made more sense to fix it after the season. But Giannis is a really physical guy. So you play like that, I’m almost used to it. You can’t back down in a situation like that, or you’ll get overwhelmed.”
When I asked Antetokounmpo about collisions — and how often he was involved in them — earlier in the season, he responded by mentioning the number of times coaches told him they wished he’d done more to sell the contact he endured. “I don’t know how to sell it,” he told me. “I’m just trying to play through connection, and [hope] It negatively affects my opponent more than it does me.”
But on Sunday, he didn’t need to sell anything. While Love, 34, was jumping back, Antetokounmpo, 28, suffered an actual and meaningful injury that threatened not only him, but the NBA’s favorite Bucks as well. And that fact, combined with Morant’s hand injury, should be enough for the league to seriously consider changing the rules around charging/blocking calls.