San Antonio Spurs veteran Rudy Gay has been in the NBA since 2006, and he doesn’t care for the direction the league is going.
The NBA is emphasizing a “freedom of movement” and calling more fouls this season, which has led to a bump in scoring. There’s less holding and grabbing allowed on defense, which benefits players on offense — much like what’s going in the NFL.
Gay, who is averaging 13.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game this season, says the league is going “soft.”
“The league’s going soft, man,” Gay said, via The Athletic’s Sam Amick. “It’s tough, man. It’s a contact sport. A contact sport. I understand that you’re changing the direction of the player, but right now it’s overboard a little bit. I mean, it’s been a point of emphasis, but you’re trying to get – you can’t touch guys. Guys are about to run, and basketball is a physical game. That’s what we lift weights for, right?”
You’ve got Derrick Rose going for 50 points and Jamal Murray for 48 over the past couple of weeks. If that’s not enough evidence backing up Gay’s claim of the league going soft with defenses, I don’t know what is.
