Revealed: NBL keen to trial bold rule changes

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The NBL wants to trial bold rule changes, including a three-point dunk, in a bid to innovate and attract new eyeballs to the competition, according to Michael Randall and Matt Logue from CODE Sports.

CODE Sports Basketball revealed league powerbrokers have brainstormed a raft of new concepts that they plan to roll out in future games.

NBL officials were on track to unveil the tweaks at this week’s pre-season Blitz in Bendigo but ran out of time to seek approval from the sport’s global body FIBA.

Basketball Australia originally endorsed the new rules – which includes player only time-outs and four points from the halfcourt logo – before saying any changes require the green light via FIBA.

The NBL would have loved to trial the new rules at the annual pre-season Blitz but officials haven’t ruled out revisiting the concepts down the track.

The WNBL has confirmed three new rule changes to be trialled during September’s pre-season tournament.

Stemming from international leagues; player-only timeouts, a maximum points free-throw and immediate back court inbound passes will be explored at the Townsville Tip-Off.

If successful, one, two or all three of the rules could come into play as soon as this coming regular season, with WNBL chief operations officer Justin Nelson declaring “anything is possible”.

For the full story and Crosscourt column on CODE Sports Basketball, click here.