Trent Tucker Rule
Encyclopedia
The Trent Tucker Rule is a basketball rule that disallows any regular shot to be taken on the court if the ball is put into play with less than three-tenths of a second left on the game clock. The rule was passed after the 1989-90 season
and named after New York Knicks
player Trent Tucker, and officially adopted in FIBA play starting in 2010.
The Official Rules of the National Basketball Association state
The Article 16.2.5 of the 2010 FIBA Official Rules] state: "The game clock must indicate 0:00.3 (three tenths of a second) or more for a player to gain control of the ball on a throw-in or on a rebound after the last or only free throw in order to attempt a shot for a field goal. If the game clock indicates 0:00.2 or 0:00.1 the only type of a valid field goal made is by tapping or directly dunking the ball."
on January 15, 1990 at Madison Square Garden
. The game was tied at 106 with one-tenth of a second left in regulation and the Knicks in possession. During a time-out called by the Knicks, both teams prepared for what was seen as the only possible way the Knicks could win in regulation; an alley oop
tap-in from out of bounds by Patrick Ewing
.
When play resumed, the Knicks player throwing the ball in, Mark Jackson
, saw the alley-oop play get broken up. He proceeded to throw the ball inbounds to Tucker, who was the only player open. Tucker then turned around and hit a three point jump shot before the buzzer, giving the Knicks the win, 109-106.
, who were working that game, claimed everything went perfectly fine. The protest was disallowed.
This became the backbone for the time requirements of the new rule. Teams with the possession of the ball with less than 00.3 left also have the option of trying a hail-mary shot like the one that the Knicks were going to try before Tucker's shot, or to simply let the clock run to zero.
Madison Square Garden, like the majority of NBA venues at the time, used an American Sign & Indicator scoreboard, and during the first weeks of the season, it was evident the manufacturer's scoreboards would have frequent calibration flaws with tenths in the final minute. In some cases the clock would be very inconsistent in timing tenths, while in other cases after calibration, the clock would actually "freeze" at one-tenth of a second before 00.0 appeared. The firm would be purchased by Trans-Lux
eventually, and many college arenas which had the AS&I scoreboards did not modify their scoreboards to carry tenths, knowing of the problems, until at least their purchase by Trans-Lux. (The NCAA did not officially adopt tenths until 2001.)
The notorious scoreboard problems of the AS&I units led to most new arenas switching to rivals White Way, Daktronics (which Madison Square Garden now uses), or in recent years, Canadian manufacturer OES.
NBA Commissioner David Stern
made it a requirement that all NBA arenas have their official game clocks properly calibrated in the wake of the incident, resulting in scoreboard overhaul. The AS&I scoreboards' notorious problem with clock mismanagement would sometimes still be a problem at some venues where the clock would still "hold" at one-tenth of a second, before the horn sounded. This was after Bulls coach Phil Jackson
noted that this clock incident was not the first in Madison Square Garden. As a player for the Knicks in the 1970s, he noted that the clock there tended to run slower when they were behind, but faster when they were ahead.
Further changes in 1991 were designed to eliminate the problem with the AS&I units with a new directive for 1991-92 to add shot clocks with duplicate game time. At that point most venues purchased new scoreboards from White Way, Fair-Play, or Daktronics because of the calibration consistency of the new units.
Very few NBA teams purchased the AS&I (or later, Trans-Lux) units when the new rule was adopted in 1991. The last NBA arena to use the manufacturer's unit was the Charlotte Coliseum (II), which installed a successor Trans-Lux unit for the 2001-02 season (the Hornets' last in Charlotte), but the arena closed after the 2004-05 season, the Bobcats'
inaugural season, after its replacement, Time Warner Cable Arena, opened (with a new Daktronics unit).
In 2002, the NBA instituted new rules regarding the end of period indicators. A LED
light strip on the backboard replaced the traditional electric red light on the backboard, and a shot clock visible to all three viewable sides was mandated.
Venues using Daktronics units installed new four-sided shot clocks with red indicator lights on the sides of the shot time to further assist the electric light. By 2004, shot clocks were available with a perimeter light strip around the clock that also lit up when the clock read 00.0. Today, the see-through shot clock units from Daktronics and OES have implemented the light strips that surround the shot clock that are turned on upon the clock registering 00.0.
In recent years, timekeeping rules have changed with the implementation of a system where the blowing of an official's whistle stops the clock at the instant of the whistle, along with a rule change where the on-court official (not an official at the scorer's table) starts the clock by pressing a button attached to the official's belt.
On December 20, 2006, New York Knicks
forward David Lee
scored a game-winning basket with only 00.1 left on the clock. The shot counted because Lee deflected in the inbounds pass into the basket. This was the first occurrence of a team winning an NBA game with 00.1 left since Trent Tucker, and coincidentally from the same team, the New York Knicks. Furthermore, this took place after the NBA adopted the Precision Time Systems unit, where officials, not the timer, start the clock. In 2004, FIBA adopted a rule where the system would be mandatory in international competitions.
http://www.seattlepi.com/scorecard/nbanews.asp?articleID=184765 Michael Jordan
, Charles Oakley
and Patrick Ewing
, all of whom participated in the original Trent Tucker game, were in attendance at the game in Madison Square Garden. http://www.seattlepi.com/scorecard/nbanews.asp?articleID=184765
In 2010, FIBA instituted Article 16.2.5 to officially institute the Trent Tucker Rule in international basketball.
1989-90 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers*Rookie of the Year: David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs*Defensive Player of the Year: Dennis Rodman, Detroit Pistons...
and named after New York Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
player Trent Tucker, and officially adopted in FIBA play starting in 2010.
The Official Rules of the National Basketball Association state
- "NO LESS THAN :00.3 must expire on the game clock when a player secures possession of an inbounds pass and then attempts a field goal. If less than :00.3 expires in such a situation, the timer will be instructed to deduct AT LEAST :00.3 from the game clock. If less than :00.3 remain on the game clock when this situation occurs, the period is over, and the field goal attempt will be disallowed immediately whether successful or unsuccessful."
The Article 16.2.5 of the 2010 FIBA Official Rules] state: "The game clock must indicate 0:00.3 (three tenths of a second) or more for a player to gain control of the ball on a throw-in or on a rebound after the last or only free throw in order to attempt a shot for a field goal. If the game clock indicates 0:00.2 or 0:00.1 the only type of a valid field goal made is by tapping or directly dunking the ball."
The incident
The rule was born out of a game between the Knicks and the Chicago BullsChicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
on January 15, 1990 at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
. The game was tied at 106 with one-tenth of a second left in regulation and the Knicks in possession. During a time-out called by the Knicks, both teams prepared for what was seen as the only possible way the Knicks could win in regulation; an alley oop
Alley oop (basketball)
An alley-oop in basketball is an offensive play in which one player throws the ball near the basket to a teammate who jumps, catches the ball in mid air and immediately scores a basket, usually with a slam dunk...
tap-in from out of bounds by Patrick Ewing
Patrick Ewing
Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player and current assistant coach for the National Basketball Association's Orlando Magic. He played most of his career with the NBA's New York Knicks as their starting center and played briefly with the Seattle...
.
When play resumed, the Knicks player throwing the ball in, Mark Jackson
Mark Jackson (basketball)
Mark A. Jackson is a retired American professional basketball player and the current head coach of the Golden State Warriors. He played point guard for the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, and Houston Rockets in the NBA in a career...
, saw the alley-oop play get broken up. He proceeded to throw the ball inbounds to Tucker, who was the only player open. Tucker then turned around and hit a three point jump shot before the buzzer, giving the Knicks the win, 109-106.
The protest
The Bulls later filed an official protest with the NBA about the play. By their estimate, the play took closer to two seconds. However, timekeeper Bob Billings and referee Ronnie NunnRonnie Nunn
Ronnie Nunn is a former professional basketball referee in the National Basketball Association for nineteen seasons and is as of 2011 the league's Director of Officials and host of Making the Call With Ronnie Nunn on NBA TV...
, who were working that game, claimed everything went perfectly fine. The protest was disallowed.
Rule implementation
Vice-president of operations Rod Thorn was the only NBA executive to side with the Bulls. (Incidentally, Thorn was once the general manager of the Bulls.) Thorn argued that it was physically impossible for a player to receive an inbounds pass and release it for a shot in a tenth of a second. He pointed out that tests in European basketball leagues, which had used the tenths-of-a-second clock for many years (the NBA had just adopted it for 1989-90), proved that a catch-and-shoot takes at least three-tenths of a second.This became the backbone for the time requirements of the new rule. Teams with the possession of the ball with less than 00.3 left also have the option of trying a hail-mary shot like the one that the Knicks were going to try before Tucker's shot, or to simply let the clock run to zero.
Madison Square Garden, like the majority of NBA venues at the time, used an American Sign & Indicator scoreboard, and during the first weeks of the season, it was evident the manufacturer's scoreboards would have frequent calibration flaws with tenths in the final minute. In some cases the clock would be very inconsistent in timing tenths, while in other cases after calibration, the clock would actually "freeze" at one-tenth of a second before 00.0 appeared. The firm would be purchased by Trans-Lux
Trans-Lux
Trans-Lux is a world leader in designing, selling, renting, installing and maintaining multi-color, real-time data and LED large-screen electronic information displays, but is primarily known as a major supplier of national stock ticker display devices for stock exchanges...
eventually, and many college arenas which had the AS&I scoreboards did not modify their scoreboards to carry tenths, knowing of the problems, until at least their purchase by Trans-Lux. (The NCAA did not officially adopt tenths until 2001.)
The notorious scoreboard problems of the AS&I units led to most new arenas switching to rivals White Way, Daktronics (which Madison Square Garden now uses), or in recent years, Canadian manufacturer OES.
NBA Commissioner David Stern
David Stern
David Joel Stern is the commissioner of the National Basketball Association. He started with the Association in 1966 as an outside counsel, joined the NBA in 1978 as General Counsel, and became the league's Executive Vice President in 1980. He became Commissioner in 1984 succeeding Larry O'Brien...
made it a requirement that all NBA arenas have their official game clocks properly calibrated in the wake of the incident, resulting in scoreboard overhaul. The AS&I scoreboards' notorious problem with clock mismanagement would sometimes still be a problem at some venues where the clock would still "hold" at one-tenth of a second, before the horn sounded. This was after Bulls coach Phil Jackson
Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson is a retired American professional basketball coach and player. Jackson is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the National Basketball Association . His reputation was established as head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 1989 through 1998;...
noted that this clock incident was not the first in Madison Square Garden. As a player for the Knicks in the 1970s, he noted that the clock there tended to run slower when they were behind, but faster when they were ahead.
Further changes in 1991 were designed to eliminate the problem with the AS&I units with a new directive for 1991-92 to add shot clocks with duplicate game time. At that point most venues purchased new scoreboards from White Way, Fair-Play, or Daktronics because of the calibration consistency of the new units.
Very few NBA teams purchased the AS&I (or later, Trans-Lux) units when the new rule was adopted in 1991. The last NBA arena to use the manufacturer's unit was the Charlotte Coliseum (II), which installed a successor Trans-Lux unit for the 2001-02 season (the Hornets' last in Charlotte), but the arena closed after the 2004-05 season, the Bobcats'
Charlotte Bobcats
The Charlotte Bobcats is a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats were established in 2004 as an expansion team, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA...
inaugural season, after its replacement, Time Warner Cable Arena, opened (with a new Daktronics unit).
In 2002, the NBA instituted new rules regarding the end of period indicators. A LED
Light-emitting diode
A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting...
light strip on the backboard replaced the traditional electric red light on the backboard, and a shot clock visible to all three viewable sides was mandated.
Venues using Daktronics units installed new four-sided shot clocks with red indicator lights on the sides of the shot time to further assist the electric light. By 2004, shot clocks were available with a perimeter light strip around the clock that also lit up when the clock read 00.0. Today, the see-through shot clock units from Daktronics and OES have implemented the light strips that surround the shot clock that are turned on upon the clock registering 00.0.
In recent years, timekeeping rules have changed with the implementation of a system where the blowing of an official's whistle stops the clock at the instant of the whistle, along with a rule change where the on-court official (not an official at the scorer's table) starts the clock by pressing a button attached to the official's belt.
On December 20, 2006, New York Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
forward David Lee
David Lee (basketball)
David Lee is an American professional basketball player who is a power forward and center for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association . He played college basketball for the University of Florida and was selected by the New York Knicks in the first round of the 2005 NBA...
scored a game-winning basket with only 00.1 left on the clock. The shot counted because Lee deflected in the inbounds pass into the basket. This was the first occurrence of a team winning an NBA game with 00.1 left since Trent Tucker, and coincidentally from the same team, the New York Knicks. Furthermore, this took place after the NBA adopted the Precision Time Systems unit, where officials, not the timer, start the clock. In 2004, FIBA adopted a rule where the system would be mandatory in international competitions.
http://www.seattlepi.com/scorecard/nbanews.asp?articleID=184765 Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
, Charles Oakley
Charles Oakley
Charles Oakley is a retired American professional basketball player and is currently an assistant coach for the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association...
and Patrick Ewing
Patrick Ewing
Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player and current assistant coach for the National Basketball Association's Orlando Magic. He played most of his career with the NBA's New York Knicks as their starting center and played briefly with the Seattle...
, all of whom participated in the original Trent Tucker game, were in attendance at the game in Madison Square Garden. http://www.seattlepi.com/scorecard/nbanews.asp?articleID=184765
In 2010, FIBA instituted Article 16.2.5 to officially institute the Trent Tucker Rule in international basketball.