NBA scoring has skyrocketed to a different stratosphere over the last few years. The new reality the league has entered hasn’t gone unnoticed.
The NBA’s competition committee has “officially begun reviewing” whether offenses have become too favored in today’s game. Depending on the committee’s findings, the NBA could consider making rule changes “to achieve better balance.”
NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars recently spoke to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Kevin Pelton about the prospective changes.
“It is a topic that we’re monitoring,” Dumars said. “We’re diving in right now to make sure that we’re on the right side of this.”
The NBA famously abolished hand-checking in 2004 in part to address what was then a league-wide dearth in scoring. During the 2003-2004 season, only two teams — the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings — averaged at least 99 points per game. The number soared to 10 teams the following year (exactly one third of the league).
The 7-seconds-or-less Phoenix Suns of the 2005-2006 season led the way toward the NBA’s new offense-first direction. They averaged 110.4 points per game, which was nearly seven points higher than the next closest team. 110.4 points per game would rank 28th in scoring for today’s NBA. The last-placed scoring team in today’s league, the Memphis Grizzlies, would have been the second-highest scoring team when the Steve Nash-era Suns were the NBA’s scoring kings.
Dumars added that the NBA isn’t considering the crack down on offenses purely to lower scoring totals. He asserted that what the NBA ultimately wants is “incredible competition” in whatever form it comes.
But judging by how NBA commissioner Adam Silver seemingly threw shade over the lack of defense played during the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, perhaps even the league has grown jaded over all the scoring.
