The WNBA has never been afraid to shake things up as a league. It’s always looking to tinker around with things. That’s how we ended up with a mid-season tournament in the W.
Now, the league is tinkering again. This time it’s introducing some rule changes that should work wonders for the pace of play.
Three new concepts are being introduced in the W for when the season tips off in a couple weeks on May 19. The league will include transition take foul penalties, coach challenges and bench decorum rules, per a release from the league.
The NBA has introduced the same rules in recent years and it’s done the league a lot of good. We’ve seen better flow in games and kept the excitement going with transition basketball.
Similar benefits will come to the WNBA.
.@WNBA Key rule changes for ‘23:
– Bench conduct: players not in the game may not remain standing at or away from their team’s bench during the game for a prolonged period &, along w/coaches, are prohibited from attempting to distract their opponents in an unsportsmanlike manner.— Khristina Williams (@Khristina) May 3, 2023
Let’s go over the details.
Take fouls
The transition take foul has brought more free-flowing transition offense to the NBA and the WNBA is hoping it’s going to do the same.
Essentially, what this call does is prevent players from fouling and stopping a fastbreak after another team gets a stop.
How it works:
- The transition take foul will be called when a player commits a foul while another team is in transition and does not make a legitimate play on the ball.
- That includes any attempt to wrap up the ball handler or grab an opponent to prevent them from entering a fastbreak.
- If the call is made, a take foul will be assessed and the offensive team will be rewarded one free throw that can be shot by any player on the court. The team will also retain possession of the ball.
The W didn’t mention whether the foul will still be assessed in the final two minutes of action and overtime — in the NBA, take fouls are allowed during that period.
It seems the W will be doing things a bit differently here.
Coach challenges
The WNBA is finally introducing a coach’s challenge to the game, too. Folks have been asking for this for years.
How it works:
- Each team will have one challenge per game and must call a timeout to use it.
- Teams can use their challenges to trigger instant replays on 3 types of plays: a called foul on their own team, an out-of-bounds call or a goaltending call.
- Additionally, in the final 2 minutes of play, goaltending reviews can only be triggered by an official review. Teams won’t be permitted to use challenges on those plays in that window.
- If a team issues a challenge with no timeouts, that team will be assessed a technical foul.
- The Coach’s Challenge rule will allow a team one challenge per game (including overtime), regardless of whether the challenge is successful.
- A team can use its challenge to trigger an instant replay review of three specific events: a called foul on their own team, a called out-of-bounds violation, or a called goaltending or basket interference violation. Replay for a called goaltending or basket interference violation will only be triggered by the on-court officials during the last two minutes of the fourth period or last two minutes of any overtime period replay.
Bench decorum
This rule is pretty simple. The league said it wants to “reduce disruptions and distractions during live play.” Basically, chill out over there with some of those wild team celebrations, y’all.
Per this rule, players are no longer allowed to remain standing at or away from their team’s bench for a “prolonged period” and coaches are prohibited from attempting to distract their opponents in an “unsportsmanlike manner.” That means no phantom shot contests.
It’ll be interesting to see if this rule gets triggered at any time during the season.
