The Heat Lost Game 5 Because Of An Archaic Rule That Needlessly Hurts Teams And Fans


Fouling out of games is typically not a problem for James, who averaged just 1.6 fouls per game this season.
But game five accentuates the NBA's archaic problem.
The foul-out rule is a basketball tradition. But in a league which is driven by its stars, the foul-out rule not only can hurt the player and the team, but it also hurts the fans and can have an overwhelming impact on important games.
Consider this: No other major sport ejects a player just because they committed too many common fouls.
The only sport that comes close is soccer with two yellow cards leading to an ejection. But even then, a foul must be egregious to warrant a yellow card.
Of course, basketball still needs a deterrent for excessive fouls. But there are better options than ejection:
- Give the other team an extra free throw if the foul is a player's sixth or greater.
- Another option is to treat it like a technical and give the fouled team free throws and allow them to keep possession.
- If you want to get extreme, they could do something similar to hockey and make a player sit for two minutes and the team must play with just four players.
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