NASSAU, Bahamas — Max Strus laughs at the conversation, but not the reality.
Because no matter where his Miami Heat journey takes him after being elevated to starter last season, his NBA legacy is now secure.
Just as Bird Rights stand as homage to Larry Bird and the rule designed to entice free agents to remain in place, and just as the Arenas Provision dates to Gilbert Arenas and a salary-cap workaround for restricted free agents, there now is a Strus Rule.
Well, not officially. But perhaps that element only is a matter of time.
Because of the lengthy delay in the time it took for the announcement during Game 7 of last season’s Eastern Conference finals that a successful Strus 3-pointer, upon video review, had been nullified by an out-of-bounds ruling, the NBA this season has changed the way such notifications will be handled.
“Clearly the Max Strus play in Miami highlighted that time that passes between the event and the dead ball,” NBA officiating supervisor Monty McCutchen said during a media seminar.
So now, rather than waiting for the next dead ball or timeout, once the NBA Replay Center determines a scoring change is necessary, a blue light will illuminate on the scorers’ table. Play then will be stopped during a “neutral” moment during the action, when neither team has an advantage in a potential scoring situation.
“The announcement will be made, and the ball will immediately be put into play under the conditions that existed before,” McCutchen continued. “We think that will take significant time off the announcement, allowing for the teams to have the best information possible to make the best schematic changes that they would like to, strategy changes that they would like to.”
The irony is that Strus saw it coming (even if he still doesn’t agree with the ruling of his stepping out of bounds).
“My brother did say to me after the game, ‘You’re going to have your own rule named after you,’ " Strus told the South Florida Sun Sentinel, with the Heat shifting from their Bahamas training camp to work back at FTX Arena. “So I guess there’s that. He spoke that into existence.”
McCutchen said 72 seconds of game action simply was too long to go without knowing the corrected score, after the ruling had already been made at the league’s Secaucus, N.J., offices.
“I thought something was going to be talked about,” Strus said of his after-the-fact surprise when he learned that day of three of his points coming off the scoreboard. “I thought that was such a crucial basket, they were going to have to make a [rules] change.
“So I’m happy they talked about it and discussed it and hopefully this helps people.”
But, no, not happy that he had to serve as the test case, still not convinced there is a definitive replay angle showing him out of bounds in the game when a late 3-point attempt by teammate Jimmy Butler could have been a game winner.
“They’re still reviewing it, huh?” he said with a laugh. “Obviously it sucks the time and the place that this one happened, it’s not fortunate.”
While it might take time for Strus Rule to formally enter the NBA’s vernacular, the league has adapted over the years to several player-inspired changes, among them:
— The Allan Houston Rule. This one allowed teams a one-time amnesty exception to remove a bad contract from their books, an approach that has morphed into the current stretch provision.
— The Charles Barkley Rule. This is when the NBA instituted a five-second rule for backing defenders into the post, as opposed to such extended sequences created by Barkley (and his posterior).
— The Rodman Rule. Cameramen were moved further from the baseline, ostensibly to keep Dennis Rodman from kicking them (and for the landing safety of other players).
— The Mutombo Rule. No more waving a finger (or gesturing toward an opponent) as Dikembe Muitombo did after blocking an opponent’s shot.
— The Trent Tucker Rule. After the Knicks guard was credited with a successful 3-pointer off a play with one-tenth of a second remaining, it was deemed that at least three-tenths of a second must remain for a successful perimeter attempt.
— The Reggie Miller Rule. From what had been a signature Miller move to gain free throws, the league ruled unnatural kicking motions by shooters would be deemed offensive fouls.
— Hack-a-Shaq. From the incessant fouling of Shaquille O’Neal due to his poor foul shooting, rules were instituted to prevent such intentional off-the-ball fouls during the final two minutes.
— The Durant Rule. Players no longer are awarded free throws when ripping the ball through a defender’s outstretched arm just prior to a shot attempt, an approach that had been maximized by Kevin Durant. (An even stricter definition has since come to be known as the Harden Rule, for James Harden’s theatrics in getting to the line.)
