Nikola Jokic isn’t one of the names that comes up among the great foul baiters in the NBA, but his physical style gets him to the line a lot. Jokic averages 6.3 free throws a game and he is 10th in the league in free throws taken this season.
Christmas Day, Jokic took 18 against the Warriors and Steve Kerr was pissed — not at these referees, specifically, but because of how far the pendulum has swung in favor of offensive players in today’s NBA.
"If I were a fan, I wouldn't have wanted to watch the second half of that game. It was disgusting."
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 25, 2023
Steve Kerr believes the NBA has legislated defense out of the game pic.twitter.com/KdSwQByhTh
“I have no problem with the officials themselves. All across the league we have really good officials,” Kerr told reporters in Denver. “I have a problem with the way we are legislating defense out of the game. That’s what we’re doing in the NBA. The way we’re teaching officials, we’re just enabling players to BS their way to the foul line.
“If I were a fan, I wouldn’t have wanted to watch the second half of that game. It was disgusting. It was just baiting refs into calls. But the refs have to make those calls because that’s how they’re taught.
“The players are really smart in this league. For over the last decade or so, they’ve gotten smarter and smarter. And we have enabled the players, and they are taking full advantage. It’s a parade to the free-throw line, and it was disgusting to watch.”
Kerr — who played in the 1990s when more physicality was allowed — is far from the first person to make this complaint, even if it is a little self-serving in this case (his team just lost after not being able to stop Jokic). The Nuggets won the free throw battle for the game taking 32 to the Warriors 22, although it should be noted that for the season the Warriors are top 10 in the league in free throw attempts a game (23.8) and the Nuggets are 25th (20.7).
Kerr is also not wrong that plenty of players — James Harden in Houston (less so with the Clippers), Trae Young, Luka Doncic among them — play to how the game is called by trying to draw fouls. The NBA came out with a rule interpretation a couple of seasons ago to not call fouls (or call offensive ones) on “non-basketball moves” by the ballhandler, but the best at drawing fouls in the game have always found a way to exaggerate basketball plays to draw fouls. It usually involves a little flailing and selling of a call after contact, and Jokic was doing that on Christmas.
How the NBA chooses to have its games officiated will become obvious to fans this summer when we transition pretty quickly (a little over a month) from the NBA Finals to the Paris Olympics — international officiating under FIBA referees allow for far more physicality from defenders. It’s an adjustment for NBA players on both ends of the court, in terms of hunting fouls and how they defend. It usually takes them a minute to get used to it.
Would the NBA be better off allowing more physical defense and calling fewer fouls? It’s a matter of personal preference, but the league has clearly decided that most fans (maybe most casual fans) prefer scoring and the displays of elite athleticism that less physicality allows over defense. The NBA wants more of an offensive flow in games.
Whether it’s time for the pendulum to swing back a little is always a topic of debate around the league. Kerr has just joined the conversation.
