After the new rule changes announced by the NBA, it is safe to say that elite long-distance 3-point shooters such as Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry will dominate the league this upcoming 2025-2026 NBA season.
Curry is widely viewed by many as one of the greatest point guards in the league’s history and is undisputedly the best 3-point shooter. Throughout his impressive career, Curry has been the franchise cornerstone that the Warriors have relied on for more than a decade.
Steve Kerr is the Warriors’ coach and knows Curry’s skill set and abilities best. During a recent interview, Kerr discussed the new rules that the league is planning to incorporate next season and how they could help stars like Curry.
How Will Stephen Curry Benefit From the New NBA Rules?
Although the overall structure of the game of basketball remains constant, the rules and regulations have changed significantly over the years. The league has always added new rules or revoked old ones based on circumstances. In the modern era of basketball, offense is the key to success, and all teams appear to prioritize an efficient offensive style of play.
Curry is the engine for the Warriors as far as bearing the offensive load goes. An argument could be made that he is roughed up the most by hounding defenses throughout most Warriors games. While Curry is relatively skilled at drawing foul calls, Kerr revealed that the new rules would make it even easier for Curry to get to the free-throw line.
“The biggest one is the high-five rule, which the [NBA] Coaches Association was part of in collaboration with the league…The last few years, we’ve really let defenders get away with fouling jump shooters on the hand. We call everything down low, but guys have been allowed to foul jump shooters and so they’re tweaking the rules on that.”
Kerr continued, “The other one where you release the shot and the guy comes in and just hammers you on the wrist a full second after. That was a play that the players were just taking advantage of because of the rules and we’re not going to allow that anymore, which is great because I think there was a risk of players getting hurt, so protecting shooters seems to be the main theme.”
Fans who have watched Curry on the court for the Warriors know that he gets “high-fived” constantly by defenders, with several also jumping into him after his shot has been released. All of these acts will be penalized to start the 2025-2026 NBA season.
Stars such as Curry, who made 93.3% of his free-throw attempts last season, will see their scoring numbers go up drastically if they capitalize on this new rule change and use it to their benefit. Fans wonder how these changes could impact teams’ playstyles next season.
