Grantland writer Zach Lowe has a great nugget in his article about Game 6 of the NBA Finals — the Heat are using a tactic that will probably be outlawed by the NBA this summer.
Miami is having a ton of problems getting to the basket. So in order to create more space, they’re having Chris Bosh intentionally stand out of bounds on offense.
As Lowe notes, the NBA competition committee wants to ban this tactic. A bunch of teams who struggle to create space on offense — most notably the Denver Nuggets — have done it this year.
The Heat don’t do a ton of it, but they were definitely doing it in Game 6. Here’s a screenshot from the fourth quarter:
ESPN
It was way less egregious early in the game:
ESPN
So why are they banning it?
NBA exec Stu Jackson told Lowe earlier this month, “It just looks bad,” and that it’s a “slippery slope” for other shady tactics.
The NBA wants to promote flowing, 5-man offensive basketball. Taking offensive players out of the play by placing them out of bounds is antithetical to that goal.
It’s anti-basketball, basically.