The NBA is officially looking to shake things up with its in-game rulebook ahead of the 2026-27 campaign, and OKC Thunder star Jalen Williams isn't all that keen on it.
On Thursday, the league's communications team announced that during the upcoming Summer League, the association will be testing out a new "one free throw rule" in an attempt to "improve game flow."
What this means is that any foul that generally results in one, two, or three free throws being taken under standard rules will instead result in a single free throw attempt and will be worth the same total number of points as the free throws it replaces.
It's worth noting that, in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and throughout overtime, standard free-throw practices will apply.
Needless to say, this proposed experiment is quite peculiar and has received considerable attention from fans and pundits alike. J-Dub opted to throw his two cents into the conversation on this rule change, writing on his personal Instagram story: "want game flow improvements but it takes 45 minutes to review calls."
Now, though this comment was accompanied by a laughing emoji and, in turn, should be taken in jest, it highlights a very real criticism of the NBA's officiating as of late. Whether it's due to inconsistencies in how games are called or, as Williams pointed out, how long it takes to make a call, referees came under quite a bit of heat this past season.
With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that the Thunder star was quick to call out the irony of them now claiming to find a solution to game flow.
Thunder MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would thrive with rule change
Though this rule shake-up is currently used only in the NBA G League and now in the 2026 Summer League, the association is clearly interested in the idea of implementing this as a permanent rule at the highest level.
Should this actually happen, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would undoubtedly be one of the biggest winners of all.
Regardless of where one stands on his label as the game's newest free throw merchant, the fact of the matter is he's one of the most effective players when it comes to drawing contact and heading to the charity stripe.
This past season, the Thunder superstar drew the sixth most personal fouls in the league with 415 and shot the second-most free throws with 614, making 540 of them (league-high).
With the majority of his makes coming off paired attempts, his success rate rang in at a whopping 87.9 percent.
Taking away attempts while still allotting the same value of points in the process would almost certainly benefit Gilgeous-Alexander in this department.
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