Basketball rules can be a bit silly. I mean, have you seen the charge rule? It’s like playing Three-Card Monte on the court. Players are encouraged to collide like it’s a goal-line stand in football. But guess what? It’s not necessary anymore. With today’s athleticism, it just doesn’t make sense to keep the charge rule around. It’s time to ditch it and create a better product on the court.

Two of the NBA’s biggest stars got hurt on Sunday because of players trying to take charges. Ja Morant and Giannis Antetokounmpo both suffered injuries because of this outdated rule. In Morant’s case, Anthony Davis was still sliding into position while he was taking off. It’s like they were trying to con the referee into calling a foul. And what about Giannis? He was off the ground completely when Kevin Love slid into position. It just doesn’t make sense to allow this dangerous play.

Sure, collisions happen in basketball. But do we really need to encourage players to try to grift their way toward “defensive stops”? It’s time to ban the charge and focus on playing actual defense. Being a traffic cone is not defense. Let’s rotate over and actually try to play some D.

I know some people are huge fans of the charge. They even have Marcus Smart and Kyle Lowry jerseys to prove it. But let’s face it, they’re just cutting in line on the court. If sliding under a jump shooter isn’t allowed because it’s a flagrant foul, then this shouldn’t be allowed either. It’s time to get rid of one more tool for defense and start making the game better for everyone.

Some may argue that players are just driving in recklessly and hoping to get bailed out with a call. And to be honest, there is some truth to that. But the league needs to make sure their emphasis on penalizing flopping is actually enforced. Remember when players used to get fined for flopping? What happened to that? Let’s get rid of foul hunting and grifting and focus on actual basketball.

Playing defense is hard enough as it is. Back in 2004-05, the league made changes to increase scoring. But now it’s gone too far. We’ve got players scoring 40 or 50 points and nobody really seems to care. Scoring is meaningless. It’s time to create a version of NBA basketball that hasn’t made scoring completely pointless.

So here’s what we can do. If we’re keeping some semblance of the charge, let’s expand the restricted area. Let’s eliminate the weak side charge. Let’s stop calling the pass-and-crash. Let’s allow hand-checking. Let’s loosen up verticality. Let’s stop calling defenders for fouls when an offensive player jumps into them unnaturally. And let’s bring back penalties for flopping and make sure offensive players are held to the same standard as defenders.

Are you with me? It’s time to ban the charge once and for all, and let’s enjoy the playoffs with all our favorite stars healthy and playing the game we all love.

Serious News: nytimes