The American Basketball Association (ABA) was an upstart professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976, which succeeded in merging with the NBA, by having four of the ABA teams become part of the NBA. The biggest change that the ABA brought to the NBA was the 3-point line. Since that merger the NBA has gone on to become incredibly successful, but as in anything, the NBA currently is pretty much content to rest on its laurels and has little interest in making any comprehensive changes to the game as it is played, though it probably should, for there are plenty of changes that ought to be done, which is why those that love basketball need something akin to the ABA to return.
The very first thing that needs to change is the basketball court size which is currently 94 feet long by 50 feet wide -- which needs to increase its width to at least 54 feet, and its length by at least an additional six feet, which would help to not only spread out the court better, but would now mean that the 3-point shot from the corners would be at 24 feet, and from the center of the arc, 25 feet, 9 inches or thereabouts. This would thereby reduce the amount of 3-point shooting and make for a more engaging sport, instead.
Other changes that need to be made consist of the following: that instead of players having to pass the ball in when the ball goes out of bounds or after a basket is made, they have the option to simply dribble the ball in. Also, to cut down on annoying foul calls, there would be only one referee on the floor who would make those foul calls, and a laser would be utilized on the court boundaries to ascertain when a ball or stray foot has traveled out of bounds. Additionally, all intentional fouls would be a violation of the rules of the sport, resulting in a Technical foul being assessed. In addition, when it comes to any foul, the captain of the team would determine whether they desired to shoot free throws or would decline to do so, and thereby simply maintain possession of the basketball. Also, the traditional 3-point play, in which a player fouled who makes the basket, is awarded a free throw, would no longer exist, though a foul would still be assessed, but since the basket was made there would be no added free throw. In addition, each coach would be provided with one timeout per quarter, and the quarter would consist of 15 minutes, because with fewer fouls and fewer free throws, there would be less stoppage in play. Also, the amount of time to get the ball to the front court would be ten seconds, and the shot clock would be 25 seconds. Finally, the basketball color would be a tri-color, such as red, white, and blue.
Indeed, because there are so many players that play basketball and are good at such, it would certainly seem conceivable that another competitive pro league could be formed, especially since there are many arenas throughout America, that are underutilized, and in consideration, that a basketball team probably doesn’t need much more than 12 players on their roster, to play their games, this would lend itself to a reasonable payroll. Additionally, in this era of social media of all types and a multitude of ways to stream content to fans, it would seem that a new basketball league could certainly have its place.