Thanks to the infamous first round playoff series between the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors last year, we now have what most will refer to as the Kawhi Leonard rule.
The NBA has made it possible for referees to make a judgment call on reckless closeouts. They can now assess technical fouls or flagrant fouls for plays they deem dangerous.
This comes after Warriors big man Zaza Pachulia stepped under Leonard in a playoff game last season, ending his series and indeed the hopes of San Antonio in the postseason.
Thursday night’s contest between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks included an interesting interpretation of the rule early in the game as Tony Snell was assessed a Flagrant 1 for sliding under rookie Jayson Tatum.
You can watch the play in the video above, but it certainly didn’t look as malicious or reckless as Pachulia’s attempt on Leonard.
There’s also something to be said about responsibility on the part of Tatum. Sweep and Sway is important and all, but that technique doesn’t include jumping from behind the line to in front of it like a goober. Some drift is fine, but Tatum’s form is definitely in need of some tuning. Perhaps we will see players using gamesmanship from here on out, purposely widening their halo by launching themselves forward on 3-pointers a la Steve Nash in transition?
I digress.
The odd Flagrant 1 was not the most offensive thing in Milwaukee tonight. History notwithstanding, that MECCA court is one of the grossest designs put in the NBA sphere in the last 20 years. Twitter loves it, so you know it has to be terrible.
Other ugly court designs I assume Twitter would love: a bar graph of student loan asset backed securities over time, a photo of Staph infection surgery, the Atlanta Hawks court.
Anyway, never foul a jump shooter (even if he jumps into you).