At what point did the rules stop being the rules?

[FurdTerguson]

The game I first watched in the mid 70s bears little to no resemblance to how it's played today. Can anyone pinpoint (ballpark) when the following rules stopped being called?

Walking
Three seconds
Palming
Illegal screen

The main reason the old school guys look so awkward in old film is because they had to adhere to these rules, not because they were lesser athletes.

 

[Ky-troutbum]

They still call those occasionally but only on Kentucky.

 

[blue cincy]

It is sad the amount of walks and carries that happens in a game. Not to mention 3 second violations. 3 seconds is a laugh, happens each and every trip. It is more like the 20 seconds of a big camped in the lane.

I cannot even watch NBA now. Just horrible basketball. Might as well be Saturday morning wrestling. lol

 

[Rondoed]

 

[UK90]

They might as well just officially remove palming from the rule book. Players now do it habitually in every game and it never ever gets called.

There’s no reason to have a rule if there’s no interest in actually enforcing it.

 

[Johnfarrel]

The game I first watched in the mid 70s bears little to no resemblance to how it's played today. Can anyone pinpoint (ballpark) when the following rules stopped being called?

Walking
Three seconds
Palming
Illegal screen
The main reason the old school guys look so awkward in old film is because they had to adhere to these rules, not because they were lesser athletes.

 

[Johnfarrel]

Half of the drives to the basket would be turnovers if they called walking and palming.

 

[rick64]

The game I first watched in the mid 70s bears little to no resemblance to how it's played today. Can anyone pinpoint (ballpark) when the following rules stopped being called?

Walking
Three seconds
Palming
Illegal screen

The main reason the old school guys look so awkward in old film is because they had to adhere to these rules, not because they were lesser athletes.

You forgot hanging on the rim used to be a technical foul. I understand players protecting themselves. But many are just players showing off.

 

[know1]

During covid. Nobody follows rules now.

 

[UK90]

You forgot hanging on the rim used to be a technical foul. I understand players protecting themselves. But many are just players showing off.

This one doesn’t bother me. Who cares if a guy wants to show off for a moment after a dunk? It has no impact on the actual game play.

I’m far more bothered by all the ballhandling violations (traveling, palming, etc.) that are simply ignored today, because that DOES have a direct impact on the game and how it’s played. You often hear praise for how well today’s players can dribble and drive the ball …but less mentioned is that’s partly because they’re routinely getting away with an extra step or carrying that would’ve been instantly whistled in past decades.

 

[North Carolina Blue Wildcat]

When acrobatic dunks became the measure for grading players.

 

[jeffky]

Laying on the floor with the ball use to be a automatic walking call they don't call anymore

 

[MegaBlue05]

I will be in the minority amongst the old timers, but I always thought palming was a stupid rule.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen 3 seconds enforced all that often. Same with palming and illegal screens. Bob Knight’s teams earned their living with illegal screens.

Carrying stopped getting called in the 90s and traveling began to evolve in the late 90s and early 2000.

 

[DraftCat]

I'm sure it coincides when Larry and Magic saved the NBA. MJ winning 6 rings and then the late 90's/00's style of play.

Basketball back then was exciting with how many superstars in the league and frankly fans were there to see them play not the refs. Once the ratings had taken off the higher ups wanted to minimize the amount of violations called.

On the flip side and wrong thread but basketball has a 3 pointer problem they need to figure out how to get different styles of play back in the game.

 

[jwphelps]

The game I first watched in the mid 70s bears little to no resemblance to how it's played today. Can anyone pinpoint (ballpark) when the following rules stopped being called?

Walking
Three seconds
Palming
Illegal screen

The main reason the old school guys look so awkward in old film is because they had to adhere to these rules, not because they were lesser athletes.

I cannot say, but I do admit if you took a point guard from today and took him back to the 70's or early 80's they could not get the ball up the court before being called for palming or carrying the ball.

 

[Blueisbest]

The NBA is really bad about shooting too many 3-point shots and killing the flow of the game. Most players will pass up a wide open 2 for a contested 3. I say let's really muck up the NBA by adding a 4-point line.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Imo it was when the nba saw the star quality of AI. He was the first person they let openly carry the ball.

 

[crawfords corner]

View embedded media

🤣 He even threw a dribble in there are still took like 8 steps🤣🤣

 

[UKhoopCat]

When there’s no penalty for breaking the rules.

 

[EliteBlue]

Laying on the floor with the ball use to be a automatic walking call they don't call anymore

You can lay on the floor, you just can’t roll over w the ball. You can even slide if it’s momentum from diving…just can’t roll over to get rid of it and you have to find the outlet from your stomach (or side of you slid on the side)

 

[FFWhite]

Love watching Lebron go off tackle. Tuck and go.

 

[Mossip]

What gets me about that clip is that there’s a ref running right beside him staring directly at it …and STILL no call.

I think refs should be forced to explain blown calls that utterly inexcusable. He sure as hell can’t claim that he didn’t see it.

The fact that people don't easily recognize that this clip is edited is terrifying, lol. No wonder silly conspiracy shit spreads like mad on Boomerbook.

 

[fredmanthecatfan]

Walking/palming. Offense sells tickets, but it should be enforced. It takes away from players who can execute amazing moves without walking or carrying.

3 seconds. I don’t think the officials are looking for it. A lot of players will move out within 3. Refs are too busy watching other things to pay attention.
Flop. Drives me crazy. Should be a technical every time. It’s one thing to exaggerate the effect of the impact. It’s quite another to act like you got hit by a bus with no or minimal contact.

Rules I would like to be changed: Allow hand checking.
Allow offensive player to create space. If defender wants to reach in for take away that’s fine, but he will do so at his own risk. If you take an elbow to the jaw, you should have considered that before putting your jaw in harms way. No call. Same for post player who drops shoulder pivoting for post move. If defender is able to hold his ground, good defense. If defender is unable to hold his ground—get stronger or get scored on.

 

[aikenite4uk]

I officiated HS basketball for over 20 years....IMO, it's an evolutionary process. It starts with a few officials not enforcing the letter of the rule book. Then it slowly spreads to others till it gets to the point that everyone is looking the other way. When it gets completely out of hand, the governing bodies finally send out "points of emphasis" which is just another way of saying you need to call the rules as written.

It's very difficult to be on a crew that is ignoring a certain rule while you are enforcing it on the other end of the floor. The coaches go ballistic (no consistency) and your partners aren't happy with you either. Three seconds is a joke. No one calls it unless it's so blatant that it can't be ignored (and the players ignore your verbal warnings). Of course, you always get the fans who don't realize that the three seconds count is over once the ball is shot (no team control).

 

[Ripcord65]

IMHO, the most important of these rules infractions, by far, has to do with "walks and carries." With that said ...
I think the problem with "walks and carries" began in a benign manner, when players were doing stuff with the basketball that had (mostly) never been routinely done before. I'm thinking particularly of Pete Maravich (entered the NBA in 1970) and Dr. J. (entered the ABA in 1971). They did stuff that was, at the time, so amazing that the refs (IMHO), just innocently "missed" the walks and carries. Before Pistol Pete and Dr. J. came Oscar Robertson and Elgin Baylor - the only two previous players who (again, IMHO) were such dynamic athletes that they could do stuff that the refs just missed. Then Larry Bird and Magic Johnson entered the NBA in 1979 ... but, frankly, the brilliance of their games wasn't significantly enhanced by missed walks and travels. IMHO, walks and travels weren't really a problem during that era.
The Magic and Bird days ushered in the "showmanship" of NBA basketball that began to change what the average TV viewer enjoyed about NBA basketball. But when Michael Jordan entered the NBA in 1984, he took "showmanship" to the next level, from an athleticism standpoint. MJ wasn't doing much, if anything, that Dr. J. hadn't done in his day. But the "showmanship" was so attractive to the viewing public by then that (again, IMHO) the refs began, to some extent, to consciously overlook walks and carries. And the rest, as they say, is NBA history.
So ... trying to answer the posted question, I'd say that "the beginning of the end" of calling turnovers for walks and carries in the NBA began between 1979 and 1984.
And regardless of all of the foregoing ...
GO 'CATS ! ! !

 

[TopCatCal]

The game I first watched in the mid 70s bears little to no resemblance to how it's played today. Can anyone pinpoint (ballpark) when the following rules stopped being called?

Walking
Three seconds
Palming
Illegal screen

The main reason the old school guys look so awkward in old film is because they had to adhere to these rules, not because they were lesser athletes.

At what point did the rules stop being the rules?.... Answer, anytime that John Higgins calls a Kentucky game

 

[cats2010]

I'm sure it coincides when Larry and Magic saved the NBA. MJ winning 6 rings and then the late 90's/00's style of play.

Basketball back then was exciting with how many superstars in the league and frankly fans were there to see them play not the refs. Once the ratings had taken off the higher ups wanted to minimize the amount of violations called.

On the flip side and wrong thread but basketball has a 3 pointer problem they need to figure out how to get different styles of play back in the game.

I think the NBA line needs to move further out, maybe as much as 3 feet to encourage other styles of play. And that may not even be enough but I’d like to see them tinker with the right distance to reverse the current trend. The latter part of the 90’s era saw about 14 attempts per game while today we are seeing 35. College will need to move further back as well IMO. I’d move college to the current nba distance while nba tacks on another 3 feet.

 

[shaudyshaud]

As someone said offense sells tickets .

Gilbert said a ref told him if we went by the rule book we would be stopping the game every play

 

[RunninRichie]

I'm sure it coincides when Larry and Magic saved the NBA. MJ winning 6 rings and then the late 90's/00's style of play.

Basketball back then was exciting with how many superstars in the league and frankly fans were there to see them play not the refs. Once the ratings had taken off the higher ups wanted to minimize the amount of violations called.

On the flip side and wrong thread but basketball has a 3 pointer problem they need to figure out how to get different styles of play back in the game.

Bring back hand checking. And all that stops.

 

[gojvc]

The game I first watched in the mid 70s bears little to no resemblance to how it's played today. Can anyone pinpoint (ballpark) when the following rules stopped being called?

Walking
Three seconds
Palming
Illegal screen

The main reason the old school guys look so awkward in old film is because they had to adhere to these rules, not because they were lesser athletes.

And once you give the offense all that you have to let the defense hand check, bump, and play physical. What you end up with is a game that is very, very difficult to officiate consistently and fairly.

 

[ukfan1622]

I see quite a bit of walking in the NBA not get called but not so much in college. The rules for walking are quite different when driving to the basket versus picking up the dribble and stopping. After stopping only one foot can move at all. When driving the player is allowed by rule one full step after ending the dribble. That means they can pick each foot up and put it down one time before the shot release; that is why the Euro step is legal even though it looks a lot like a walk because of the hesitation.

 

[Fox2monk]

View embedded media

Gather, no dribble, 1-2-3-4-5 steps

 

[Blue Bigfoot]

I swear they just keep the 3 second rule in their pocket in case they want to change to outcome of a game, stick it to another team, or for a make-up call. It's either a violation, or it's not. Call it or get rid of it.

 

[HeismaNole]

Because guys can't dribble without carrying/palming anymore. It's ingrained across the board. Refs would be blowing the whistle every time now if they actually called traveling and carrying.

Social media is filled with all of these basketball trainers who have a new stupid move to teach kids. It's always some embelishment of a gather step and then them arguing with you on why it's not a travel to take four steps including dragging a foot.

 

[SemperFiCat]

They might as well just officially remove palming from the rule book. Players now do it habitually in every game and it never ever gets called.

There’s no reason to have a rule if there’s no interest in actually enforcing it.

A conspiracy theorist might say because it's now a tool for refs to selectively use to regulate a game.

The NBA has really just become a pretty garbage product. They can argue ratings and blah blah blah. My eyes know. ESPN has propped that league up for years.

 

[RunninRichie]

A conspiracy theorist might say because it's now a tool for refs to selectively use to regulate a game.

The NBA has really just become a pretty garbage product. They can argue ratings and blah blah blah. My eyes know. ESPN has propped that league up for years.

The NBA is terrible. I can't get over how awful Nike is. They have botched the jerseys. Teams wearing white on the road, away at home. Awful alts. The lakers don't wear purple anymore. Such a joke.


The NBA is mostly propped up by international eyes. Americans know it's ass.

 

[CNJ1966]

1) These long “Eurosteps” are travels the vast majority of the time because the trailing foot taps or drags across the floor.
2) Guys fumble the ball, pick it up, dribble again. Double dribble. Never is called.
3) Players jump into the air in the lane and come back down before passing or shooting. Never is called.
4) Finally, the touch fouls called after a three is released which had absolutely no bearing on the shot are ridiculous.

 

[BigRedMachineBigBlueNation]

When? Idk. Where; the NBA. It’s a garbage league. Any American that says the NBA is better than College is a liar. I can take college kids making dumb mistakes over pros who purposely skirt the rules.

 

[RunninRichie]

When? Idk. Where; the NBA. It’s a garbage league. Any American that says the NBA is better than College is a liar. I can take college kids making dumb mistakes over pros who purposely skirt the rules.

The NBA died when Kobe retired in 2016.

 

[FurdTerguson]

Was palming intended to keep players with enormous hands from having a huge advantage?