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A major experiment will take place during this year’s NBA Summer League.
The NBA announced Thursday that the “one free throw rule” will be used at Summer League events taking place this month in Salt Lake City, Northern California and Las Vegas.
The G League has used this rule since the 2019-20 season, which is designed to speed up play.
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Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks shoots a free throw during play against the San Antonio Spurs during Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals on June 13, 2026 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. (Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
Any foul that would normally result in the awarding of one, two or three free throws will result in only one free throw attempt. That attempt will be worth the same total number of points as the free throws it replaces.
However, the rule does not apply to the entire game. Standard free throw rules (two shots for a two-shot foul, etc.) will be used during the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and throughout overtime.
Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs takes a free throw against the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on June 10, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) ((Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images))
It’s unclear whether the one-free throw rule will be included in NBA games, but like the minor and independent leagues and Major League Baseball, the Summer League has been a testing ground for eventual rule changes.
Among those that started at those levels and eventually made it to the NBA are the coach’s challenge, resetting the shot clock from 24 seconds to 14 seconds after offensive rebounds and the one-shot award for a transition foul, which is when a defender intentionally commits a foul to stop a transition opportunity for the opponent.
Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers shoots a free throw during the first half of Game 4 against the New York Knicks in the second round of the NBA playoffs in Philadelphia on May 10, 2026. (Matt Slocum/AP)
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The G League also plays 10-minute quarters, something NBA commissioner Adam Silver has openly advocated for. The league once tested 11-minute quarters in a preseason game, while exhibition games before the “bubble” in 2020 used 10-minute quarters.
Summer League starts on July 9.
