NBA's 'Take Foul' Is On Verge Of Being Penalized

The frustrating transition 'take foul' is about to be taken down, according to a report by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. 

The NBA transition “take foul” during games is inching closer to being penalized, starting with the 2022-23 season, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

The new rules the NBA will be instituting involve giving the fouled team one free throw and the ball after a take foul.

"The (Rules) Committee began meeting in Las Vegas over the weekend to discuss rule-change proposals," wrote Haynes. "The committee’s rule-change recommendations will be brought to the Board of Governors, where the BOG is expected to unanimously vote in favor of the change, sources said."

The 'take foul' is used by teams to stop a fastbreak opportunity (which of course comprises some of the most exciting action in basketball). Reaching out and touching the player with the ball, before or after a pass, to prevent a numbers advantage, leads to the ref blowing the whistle. It can happen in the frontcourt or the backcourt. 

How strict the refs will be on this remains to be seen, as there seems to be a loophole in some situations that teams are getting away with in Summer League.

Great to see the league addressing the transition take foul. However, in Summer League it seems like only about 50% of fouls that have stopped fast breaks have been called take fouls because there's an exception for "making a play on the ball," which is often dubious.

— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) July 11, 2022

Insider Nate Duncan says only about 50% of the fouls that have stopped fast breaks have been called take fouls because there's an exception for "making a play on the ball," which, as he says, is often dubious.

If called properly, this will be a tremendous change to the NBA game, that pretty much everyone involved in the sport wants to see.