LeBron James played for Team USA for many years under international basketball rules. The 40-year-old would like to see some of these rules adopted in the NBA.
On his podcast “Mind the Game,” which he hosts with legendary point guard Steve Nash, the question came up as to whether the NBA should play by the rules of the world governing body FIBA. In addition to shorter playing time, a slightly smaller court, and a shorter three-point line, there are significantly fewer fouls called internationally.
“I’ve played in a lot of FIBA tournaments with the US and I loved the physicality of the games,” James said, but questioned whether such intensity would make sense with an 82-game regular season schedule. Instead, James focused on another rule that is interpreted differently in the NBA: goaltending.
While in the NBA you are not allowed to go for the ball when it is in the “cylinder” above the basket, according to FIBA rules it can be knocked away from the ring. “I find that exciting and it’s really harder than it looks.”
48 minutes is sacred to LeBron
Another thing is the length of the games. According to James, 40 minutes instead of 48 minutes in the NBA would definitely make a difference. “It gives the game a certain urgency. You can’t just ease into a game, and I think that’s good.” However, James also knows that this cannot be changed easily in the NBA due to tradition.
James wants to keep the rule that players can only remain without an opponent for a maximum of three seconds in defense. This rule does not exist in international games, which means that centers can always stand under the basket. “Do we really want to see that?” James asked rhetorically. “I’m not sure.”
If major changes were to be made, the NBA would probably test them first. The league has the G League and the Summer League for such purposes, and James would support this, but he noted: “Our game isn’t perfect, but I like how players thrive in this system.”
