NBA Announces Rule Change for End-of-Quarter Heave Stats at 2025 Summer League

The NBA has announced a rule change regarding how end-of-quarter heaves will be accounted for in the box score during Summer League play.

According to the league, any shot classified as a "heave" will be counted toward a team's field goal percentage, not the player's.

For a shot to be classified as a heave, it must occur in the final three seconds of the first three quarters, be launched from at least 36 feet away, and the play has to start in the backcourt.

It's not uncommon to see NBA players avoid taking long shots at the end of quarters, presumably so they can avoid picking up a missed field goal on their final stat line.

In fact, Rob Perez of SiriusXM NBA Radio had name for a group of players who wanted to avoid taking such shots.

It's unclear whether this rule will be in play for the NBA someday, although one can guess that it's under consideration given the accelerated experimentation.

Ultimately, it's a funny sight to see a player avoid shooting a long-range heave at the end of quarters instead of going for a long three-pointer to help his team. Yes, it's a miracle heave at the end of the day, but players like Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić and Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry have showed how it's done.

The rule change, in theory, should incentivize players to take those shots much more frequently moving forward.