With Team USA’s triumph, the Paris Olympics 2024 draws to a close. Now, everybody is looking forward to the next big event, the NBA Cup that takes place before the regular season starts. But what if the rules of international basketball are applied in the NBA? Fans and experts have often wondered about it and recently two NBA analysts, Bonta Hill, and Joe Shasky, discussed it on 95.7 The Game podcast.

The conversation about the NBA possibly adopting FIBA rules kicked off between the two analysts when one of them suggested how it could amp up the competitiveness on the court. “The FIBA rules I do like it and this has been a conversation for a while now about the FIBA rules, going to the FIBA rules, and knocking the ball off the rim. There was a couple of times when France had a couple of blocks. You see Lebron just rip it, rip it,” Hill said.

Even though blocking the ball in its downward flight towards the rim is considered a violation in both NBA and FIBA, what’s different in FIBA is that the players are allowed to swat the ball away or tap it in once it touches the rim, whereas, in the NBA, they are not.

“I think the FIBA rules will be adopted into the NBA at some point because you need to spice your regular season up again and maybe it’s not the in-season tournament. It’s not the point system with that, it’s not the play-in tournament. It’s you gotta spice the rules up a little bit to make the game more competitive in the regular season, to make the regular season more watchable,” Hill added.

To which, Shasky replied, “What I saw, a few ideas that have been floated by the league. These are people that, kind of, know what’s going on in the NBA, they actually been tinkering behind the scenes. The in-season tournament would be a FIBA-like showcase of each country having their own team but then you stop and pause in the middle of the season, so like there are pluses and minuses to it, I don’t know, but it does feel like they are gonna do some tinkering. I think the 40 minutes with 10-minute quarters, that’s like the way to go.”

Currently, the in-season tournament comprises the NBA teams, but imagine if, instead, players competed with their international teams. Also, in the NBA, each quarter is 12 minutes long, whereas in FIBA, it’s reduced to 10 minutes per quarter. This gives players more energy in each quarter, making the game even more heated.

With each quarter having a couple of minutes lesser, the game is only 40 minutes long in FIBA, while in the NBA, it is 48 minutes. “Steve Kerr touched on that with us on Friday because he loves the 10-minute quarter,” Hill said. Well, Team USA had a great run in this Olympics under the FIBA rules, so adopting those rules in the NBA seems like a good idea. However, it all lies in the hands of the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

On top of that, players like Buddy Hield have also supported the FIBA rules, highlighting how FIBA’s three-second rule is different from that of the NBA. Let’s dive into it.

Buddy Hield reckons FIBA rules are fun

After beating Lebanon with a score of 89-72 in the Olympic qualifying tournament back in July, the Bahamas guard Buddy Hield shared his thoughts on the game, as he admitted that he liked the rules in international competitions.

“I like most of them… Only [not having] the 3-second rule… You can stay in the paint longer, but it makes it harder for the offense, though,” Buddy continued. “FIBA is good, man. They have their rules, and we adjust. It’s fun. You can’t complain about this basketball. You just gotta adjust to the rules, that’s what makes it so great.”

In the NBA, there are both defensive and offensive three-second rules, which means an offensive player cannot stay in the paint for more than 3 seconds while their team has the ball, and a defensive player cannot stay in the free throw lane for more than 3 seconds unless they are actively guarding an opponent. Whereas in FIBA, the three-second rule only applies to the offensive players.

Even though Adam Silver announced that the NBA and the FIBA are having ‘much more serious’ talks about growth in Europe, the NBA commissioner has not mentioned anything about adopting any rules from FIBA. But, with conversations going around, will Adam Silver be forced to consider adopting FIBA regulations? What are your thoughts on this?

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Asia Avinger.