The NBA Finals matchup is all set. The Nikola Jokic-led Denver Nuggets face a blood-hungry Miami Heat with Jimmy Butler at the helm. There is some exciting basketball to be played in this seven-game series. A person who thinks the contrary is renowned NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy.
The last games of the NBA Playoffs come as exciting as they are. Culminating storylines the likes of solidifying the Heat as the greatest playoff turnaround in history or Jokic finally getting crowned as the best player in the world. Despite all of this, Van Gundy thinks the league should follow the MLB's footsteps and find ways to speed up the game.
“So my most radical one is to eliminate free throws until the last four minutes,” Van Gundy said, per Richard Deitsch of The Athletic. “If you get fouled on a shooting foul, you just get the points. You don’t go to the line. And you don’t go to the line for technical free throws. They’re just points.”
The free throw idea is also not Van Gundy's sole radical scheme to shake up the fight for the Larry O'Brien trophy. He thinks halftime is a waste of time in basketball despite it being important in players' fatigue and health.
“I think halftime is the biggest waste of time. Or I’d reduce it to five minutes so you could go to the bathroom and come back out. This whole idea of what goes on at halftime I think is so misunderstood. It’s a lot of either praising what just happened or correcting. But you could do that in two minutes out by the bench in an elongated timeout,” said Van Gundy with much certainty that his suggested changes will be taken into account.
If Adam Silver needs a consultant to make the NBA Finals more exciting, he should call Jeff Van Gundy.
Follow Us
Subscribe