NBA tests single free throw attempt at Summer League as sport pushes for a faster game

A major experiment will be going on during this year’s NBA Summer League.

The NBA announced Thursday that the “one free throw rule” will be used at the Summer League events happening this month in Salt Lake City, Northern California and Las Vegas.

The G League has used this rule since the 2019-20 season, which is designed to speed up play.

Any foul that would typically result in the awarding of one, two or three free throws will instead result in a single free-throw attempt. That attempt will be worth the same total number of points as the free throws it replaces.

The rule doesn’t apply to the entire game, though. Standard free-throw rules — two shots for a two-shot foul, etc. — will be used for the last two minutes of fourth quarters and in all of overtime.

It’s unclear whether the one-free-throw rule will make it into NBA games, but similar to the minor and independent leagues and Major League Baseball, the Summer League has been a proving ground for eventual rule changes.

Among those that started at those levels and eventually got to the NBA are the coach’s challenge, resetting the 24-second shot clock to 14 seconds after offensive rebounds and the one-shot award for a transition take foul — which is when a defender intentionally commits a foul to halt a transition opportunity for the opposition.

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The G League also plays 10-minute quarters, something NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has openly advocated for. The league once tested 11-minute quarters in a preseason game, while exhibition games prior to the “bubble” in 2020 used 10-minute quarters.

The Summer League begins on July 9.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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