Why was zone illegal in the NBA?

[Loki]

zone was illegal from the 80s to 00s, basicly the best period of nba.

Actually, I'm pretty sure that zone was illegal from the inception of the NBA (or at least the late 50's) until 2004, not just from 1980.

[Focused]

I read it was supposed to get highlights on players more because NBA is like a commercial business.

[eliteballer]

Everytime you see a Michael Jordan play where the team clears out to one side and he goes into an isolation, you'll see your answer.

[Loki]

Everytime you see a Michael Jordan play where the team clears out to one side and he goes into an isolation, you'll see your answer.

I guess they foresaw Jordan's arrival as farback as the 60's, since zone was never legal in the NBA afaik.

[Scott Pippen]

I guess they foresaw Jordan's arrival as farback as the 60's, since zone was never legal in the NBA afaik.

what kind of answer did you expect from kobe fan?

[K.Koscik]

what kind of answer did you expect from kobe fan?

You're the first person to bring the word Kobe into this thread. On ISH Kobe is a word. He was just complimenting MJ. Incorrectly, I might add. But nevertheless its no reason to bring in the fact he's a Kobe fan.

[highwhey]

R. Kelly?

[White Chocolate]

to enhance scoring.

Yet, the majority of teams still can't average 100 PPG.

[kingpala]

Good thread. We need more of these threads around. Notice how it was made when ISH was at its peak.

[bdreason]

Zone defense is lame and supports poor defensive players.


Man-to-man is where it's at.


The only problem is the hand-checking rule.


Get rid of any type of zone defense, and put hand-checking back in the game and we're good to go.

[Diesel J]

The NBA has created all sorts of rules against playing normal, solid defense. No zone

Zone isn't "solid" defense. It's an easy way of hiding/protecting people that can't guard their own man.

[Diesel J]

Zone defense is lame and supports poor defensive players.


Man-to-man is where it's at.


The only problem is the hand-checking rule.


Get rid of any type of zone defense, and put hand-checking back in the game and we're good to go.

I agree

[afro41]

so white boys could have a shot

hahaha

[D-Fence]

The BAA (Basketball Association of America), which was what the NBA was called before its first big merger, made zone defenses illegal on January 11, 1947. This was a little more than 2 months into the BAA/NBA's inaugral season.

However, many players and referees of the early days have said that illegal zone defenses weren't called like they were by the 1980s. Before the 1970s or somewhere in the 1960s, league officiating was inconsistent and generally didn't follow the official league rules. They say that, mostly, only the 3-seconds rule was enforced.

As to the original poster's question, I assume the league had illegal defense rules in an attempt to have quicker, higher-scoring games, which would thus be more exciting to fans. Slow, low-scoring games were a huge problem in 1947. Perhaps, some also saw the strategies of zone defense to be a potentially unfair advantage. That was certainly true of some games pre-NBA--when the paint wasn't as wide, without the 3-seconds rules or goaltending rules, where big men could camp near the basket and just knock every shot away before it went through the hoop. 6'10" George Mikan and 7'0" Bob Kurland did that in college for a couple seasons.

Defensive 3-seconds still exists for essentially the same reason zone defenses were illegal; it has just been more effective than the other rules, and so it remains.

[72-10]

The BAA (Basketball Association of America), which was what the NBA was called before its first big merger, made zone defenses illegal on January 11, 1947. This was a little more than 2 months into the BAA/NBA's inaugral season.

However, many players and referees of the early days have said that illegal zone defenses weren't called like they were by the 1980s. Before the 1970s or somewhere in the 1960s, league officiating was inconsistent and generally didn't follow the official league rules. They say that, mostly, only the 3-seconds rule was enforced.

As to the original poster's question, I assume the league had illegal defense rules in an attempt to have quicker, higher-scoring games, which would thus be more exciting to fans. Slow, low-scoring games were a huge problem in 1947. Perhaps, some also saw the strategies of zone defense to be a potentially unfair advantage. That was certainly true of some games pre-NBA--when the paint wasn't as wide, without the 3-seconds rules or goaltending rules, where big men could camp near the basket and just knock every shot away before it went through the hoop. 6'10" George Mikan and 7'0" Bob Kurland did that in college for a couple seasons.

Defensive 3-seconds still exists for essentially the same reason zone defenses were illegal; it has just been more effective than the other rules, and so it remains.

repped