Unwritten basketball rules

Rules are written down for society to follow, with the requisite penal provisions, to make things fair to everyone.  But often, especially traffic rules here, they’re just suggestions, motorists and pedestrians competing to annoy the few who follow.  The same is true with sports with the corresponding penalties for rule breakers.

There are also unwritten rules in society to encourage respect, discipline and pleasant interaction.  Professional sports also have their own unspoken rules where players follow to respect the game.  Break them, the whole opposing team goes after you.

The NBA had numerous cases of unwritten rules breached by players that caused some drama, particularly the one that runs up the score some more.  It has been practiced that the winning team should not score in the dying seconds, but like in society, some don’t subscribe to it.

In game 4 of the Denver - Minnesota series, the Wolves completely dominated the Nuggets despite losing Donte DiVincenzo to an Achilles injury and Anthony Edwrads to a hyperextended knee.  Both players will probably be out for the rest of the postseason.

With Minnesota up by 14 points with less than 10 seconds left, Mike Conley tossed the ball up court, then Jaden McLay-up happened, scoring with 1.3 seconds left in the game instead of dribbling out the clock.  He’s not a fan of those invisible rules and if he has the ball and has a chance to score, why not.

The fastest we had seen him run since the playoffs started, Nikola Jokic sprinted the length of the court towards the Minnesota bench, furious about the ‘disrespect’ and running up the score.  Well, he and the rest of the Nuggets should have done something earlier about the Wolves’ scoring than be overly concerned with the score with 1.3 seconds left in the clock.

Everybody joined the party, trying to cool things, yes, without fists thrown.  The altercation cost Jokic $50,000 and Julius Randle $35,000 in their combative efforts.

This is the third time in four years that Denver and Minnesota have faced off in the playoffs.

As of this writing, Minnesota tries to close out the series.  Denver meanwhile will try to overcome a 1-3 series deficit, where in 2020, they became the first team in league history to overcome multiple 1-3 series deficits in a single season, defeating Utah in the first round and the LA Clippers in the second round.  They lost to the LA Lakers in the Western Conference Finals in five games.