NBA institutes new proximate contact rule for challenging out-of-bounds calls

NEW YORK — With just 47 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Game 2 of the 2024 Western Conference finals, the Dallas Mavericks trailed the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-106 and Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels saved a ball from going out of bounds near the baseline.

Kyrie Irving, in close proximity to the play, swiped at McDaniels’ arm. The ball went out of bounds and the closest official to the play awarded the Timberwolves possession even though Irving never touched the ball.

The Mavericks immediately challenged the call — because while Irving committed a foul, he was not the last player to touch the ball. And because officials couldn’t retroactively assess the foul during a possession challenge, the replay review overturned the call and gave Dallas possession — even though officials missed a clear foul call responsible for McDaniels losing the ball.

Luka Doncic then drilled a game-winning 3-pointer, securing a 2-0 series lead for Dallas, who advanced to the NBA Finals shortly thereafter.

Senior Vice President and Head of Referee Development & Training Monty McCutchen pointed to this controversial sequence during Thursday’s Points of Emphasis media call as the catalyst behind the NBA’s new rule change for the 2024-25 season: the “proximate contact” rule.

This new regulation allows officials to call fouls when determining possession on out-of-bounds challenges in plays where players are in close proximity, preventing future missed fouls like Irving’s.

Under the new rule, not only would the Mavericks’ challenge have resulted in the Timberwolves retaining possession of the ball, but Irving would have also been whistled for a foul as part of the replay review. Notably, teams that retain possession after a proximate contact play cannot challenge to get a foul call instead of possession.

The officials hopes this adjustment will discourage players from exploiting out-of-bounds challenges in situation’s like Irving’s play against McDaniels.

Additional points of emphasis this season include clarifying rules on straight-line drives to the basket, the verticality rule when contesting shots at the rim, jump shooter leg-to-leg contact, and a continuing focus on limiting flopping, which saw a decline last season due to increased enforcement of unnatural motions.

The referees’ efforts aim to ensure more consistent officiating while reducing player exploitation of gray areas in the rules.