NBA: Play-In tournament made permanent, plus changes to 'take foul' rule ahead of new season
- Sean Fisher
- 14 July 2022
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed a number of changes to the league ahead of the start of the new season.
With three months to go until the start of the new NBA season, Adam Silver has confirmed a number of new permanent changes.
Included in those changes is the NBA play-in tournament, which has been made a permanent part of the calendar after two successful experimental seasons.
The Play-In Tournament format pits teams that finish seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th in the East and West against each other to determine the final two playoff spots in each conference.
The No 7 team plays the No 8 team, with the winner clinching the No 7 seed in the playoffs. The No 9 team plays the No 10 team, with the loser eliminated and the winner moving on to face the team that lost the 7-8 game. The winner of that matchup is the No 8 seed.
The NBA has officially approved the Play-In Tournament full time and added a heightened penalty for a team committing a transition take foul 🙏 pic.twitter.com/u1WEo9v6IG
— Pickswise (@Pickswise) July 13, 2022
It's so far been a huge hit with NBA fans, with teams now less likely to tank on purpose in order to receive better draft picks.
All in all, it was an easy decision for the NBA to add the format permanently into the calendar, starting with the 2023 season.
Changes to the 'take foul' rule
Silver also revealed the NBA's plan to tackle the take-foul rule, with teams disadvantaged by the rule now set to receive one free throw.
Silver had previously warned that the rule would be changed, but also confirmed that future tweaks to the ruling is possible.
"Generally, it was upbeat coming out of our meeting," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said.
"People are thrilled that as we head into next season, it looks like we'll be on our normal track in terms of when the season starts, in terms of our protocols around the health and safety of our players."
The NBA Board of Governors has approved a new "transition take foul" rule for the 2022-23 season.
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 13, 2022
The rule will give the offensive team a single FT and possession when a take foul is committed. pic.twitter.com/NOJbsoxze0
The take foul is when a defender is deemed to have not made a play on the ball. It's classified by the league as one that occurs either "during a transition scoring opportunity or immediately following a change of possession and before the offensive team had the opportunity to advance the ball."
The exception is in the final 2 minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.
