Richard Jefferson rips NBA for ‘cowardly’ rule change

ESPN NBA analyst Richard Jefferson can be counted as a critic of a new NBA rule that will keep most end-of-quarter heaves from being counted against a player’s shooting percentage.

Hoping to increase the number of long buzzer-beaters attempted, the NBA implemented a rule that if a shot is taken in the final three seconds of the first, second or third quarters from more than 36 feet away (as long as the play started in the backcourt), it will count towards the team’s shooting percentage but not the player’s.

Jefferson is not a fan of the new rule. He criticized it on Thursday, calling it “cowardly” and also noted that he feels it’s emblematic of a greater problem with modern sports.

“This is cowardly! We don’t want it to count towards your %…… UNLESS YOU MAKE IT,” he said on X. “You want the positive without the potential for negative. PROFESSIONAL SPORTS 2025.”

While Jefferson’s argument may be accurate, it’s not necesarilly relevant.

In recent years, NBA players have grown increasingly hesitant to try long shots at the end of quarters. Excluding some stars (notably Steph Curry and Nikola Jokić) players getting the ball in the backcourt at the end of a quarter will often wait until the buzzer sounds to try the shot. Given how low-percentage the shots are, players don’t want to hurt their shooting statistics and in turn, their bargaining power.

If these shots were being taken regularly, Jefferson’s argument of players simply wanting an all reward, no risk situation would carry more weight. But NBA players are routinely (and usually blatantly) passing up these shots. If the league and its fans want to see more of these attempted, a rule change such as this one probably was necessary. Without it, we’d just see more of the same.

The new rule will increase those attempts. That’s something that, at least theoretically, both the league and its fans want to see.