When the 2019-20 high school basketball season began, there were eight states across the country that had implemented a shot clock. According to the AP, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Washington use a shot clock of 30 or 35 seconds for either boys or girls or both on the varsity level.
But LeBron’s home state of Ohio, for example, continues to play without a shot clock in high school basketball this season. On Friday, as the state playoffs began to heat up, James took to Twitter to suggest that states like Ohio and others need to incorporate a shot clock. While re-sharing a post from friend and high school teammate Romeo Travis, LeBron added that playing without a shot clock is “not basketball” and that high school hoops needs a “shot clock ASAP.”
As the NBA game has continued to increase its offensive pace and scoring over the last 10 years, it does seem odd that we continue to play high school basketball in the same format we did before the shot clock was invented in 1954. When Syracuse Nationals owner Danny Biasone invented the shot clock 70 years ago he did so to increase the pace of play. That still hasn’t happened on the high school level and you can count LeBron as someone who believes it needs to–ASAP.
