Bizarre Rules You Didn't Know Existed in the NBA

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Did you know the NBA has a rule in place in case a whole team dies, or that a certain number is illegal? These are the only NBA rules you didn't know exist. And first, did you know one NBA fashion rule can literally change the outcome of a game? Because if you enter the court with an untucked jersey, you'll get a warning. But if it happens again, technical foul and a delay of game. Listen, it might sound tiny, but it's seriously a make or break rule. And for Kyrie, it's definitely a make. But not everyone gets the same power, especially not Jordan Bell, because in 2019, in the final seconds of the Thunder Timberwolves game, Carl Anthony Towns was up for free throws to try and seal it for the Timberwolves. And it looked like it was going to happen. Then came Chris Paul.

**Allen Iverson** (0:39)
Bell was subbing in the game and he had his jersey untucked and we already had got a delay of game. And Chris was like, you have to call it.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:47)
You want him to make this free throw.

**Allen Iverson** (0:51)
The ref didn't want to call it, but the was so like, that's part of the rules.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:54)
You know the rules.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:56)
And a delay of game has been called against Minnesota and Jim May had been issued a delay of game warning earlier in the game.

**Allen Iverson** (1:03)
Oh, I was mad as f**k.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:05)
Bruh, I would have crashed out on CP for pulling that. Dude was definitely that kid about to ask for homework at the end of the day. But since he called it, OKC got a free throw, then a full court layup and one in overtime. But the NBA ain't just sticking to making petty rules, cuz these days, they're actually making rules to motivate the players. You know, the whole you miss 100% of the shots you don't take saying, well, when it comes to half-court shots, players always avoid them, mainly because a miss would tank their stats. But the NBA wants to fix that, so we can see more of those last second buzzer beaters. So starting in 25-26, any shot launched within the final three seconds of the first three quarters from at least 36 feet away will be counted as a team shot attempt, not a player shot attempt. Damn, that's a mouthful, but it sounds kind of dope at first, until you read the fine print, because it also says that making it will actually count towards your own stats. So they basically invented the have your cake and eat it too rule. But do you think that rule is crazy? The NBA has a rule in place for something way darker. Like, what would happen if your entire team died? Even though that's unbelievably unlikely, the NBA likes to prepare for the worst, so they literally have an entire section of the rule book dedicated to the worst case scenario called the disaster draft. Because if that day ever came, it's not like the team would just shut down forever. They'd have to rebuild it in a single day. Here's how it works. Every franchise except for the dead one must choose up to five players to protect on the roster. And once they've got that locked in, the affected franchise can select one unprotected player from each franchise to fill their roster back up. Honestly, sounds like a rule the Pelicans could use these days. Nah, I'm just playing. No team deserves to ever see this thing activated, but every team is glad it exists. Cause for all the petty fines, uniform violations, and technicals, at least the Leeds got a plan for the one thing that actually matters. And no, it's not the only rule they have for rare scenarios, cause there's a rule so rare, it's only been used once in this century. See, usually if a player has six fouls, that's it. They're just gonna have to come back next game, but that's not always an option.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:06)
It's behind Wes Johnson.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:09)
Oh, Sacre's fouled out. So now we've hit that situation.

**SPEAKER_6** (3:13)
Sacre is out of the game.

**Allen Iverson** (3:15)
Farmer is unavailable.

**SPEAKER_6** (3:16)
Kamen has fouled out.

**SPEAKER_7** (3:18)
The last player that fouled out comes back into the game in my estimation.

**SPEAKER_1** (3:23)
Well, the announcer's estimation was right. Since there's no one left to sub in, the NBA couldn't just send the fans home, so they enforced something called the player foul penalty, which forced Robert Sacre, the last player to go out, to just stay in. That's actually wild to see, but that's not where it stops, because once the last fouled player is officially out, the rule states that every foul he commits after that becomes a personal team and technical foul. And at that point, you got to be careful even smiling in the wrong direction. But not every rule has to do with a once in a lifetime situation. Some just ban basic human functions, like when they ban Karam Butler from eating or chewing, because he had the most random game day addiction of all time, chewing McDonald's straws.