ULEB - Rule Changes

Rule Changes

ULEB also broke away from FIBA Europe, and adopted rules closer to the NBA, with the NBA's jump ball and 24-second rules being the first to be adopted, in 2002 and 2003, respectively. The hope was that ULEB would play with rules which would favor players and spectators, which the rules of FIBA Europe did not specifically cater to.

In 2004, ULEB adopted more rules changes which made their game more similar to the NBA. It adopted the NBA jump ball rule (no possession arrow, unlike in FIBA Europe rules), as well as NBA-type rules regarding the position of the ball in the final two minutes, following a time out (center line), and block and charge fouls within 1.22 meters (4 feet) of the basket. Italy's controlling club basketball body, Lega Basket, also adopted an instant replay rule, which eventually led to the Italian Championship being decided by instant replay, as a field goal made in the final second of the game which determined if a team had won, or had been forced to a deciding game, had to be reviewed for minutes by officials.

In 2005, ULEB decided to work in conjunction with FIBA Europe, with the competition rules being made more uniform in nature. For example, the Euroleague and Eurocup, which are organized by ULEB, as well as the European national domestic leagues, which also fall under the ULEB umbrella system, and the EuroBasket and EuroChallenge, which are organized by FIBA Europe, would have the same rules. So ULEB replaced the NBA-type rules, eliminating the jump ball and block-charge arc. FIBA Europe then later reintroduced the block-charge arc, effective in 2010, for international national team competitions, and in 2012, for national domestic leagues; at the same time, the trapezoidal-shaped lane area, that was historically used by FIBA Europe, was replaced by the rectangular-shaped lane area that is used in the NBA. In addition to this, the 3 point line was moved out from a distance of 6.25 meters (20 feet 6 inches), to a distance of 6.75 meters (22 feet 2 inches).