NBL asks Basketball Australia to seek Fiba approval to trial three-point dunks and four-point mid-court shot at Blitz in Bendigo

The Australian men’s professional league, the NBL, has tabled a package of rule experiments with Basketball Australia — proposing three-point dunks and a four-point mid-court “logo three” — for trial during its NBL Blitz tournament scheduled this week in Bendigo, and Basketball Australia has referred the proposal to Fiba.

The suite of changes was pitched as a way to deliver more highlights and to be trialled at pre-season matches, but the timeline proved too tight because Basketball Australia wanted Fiba involved in the approvals process. The proposal has been described as one that could alter the game’s balance and was lodged to increase interest in the Blitz; the league says it remains interested in pursuing the test at a later date.

Proponents point to the dunk’s high probability of success and recent trends: dunk frequency in the NBA has risen to around 6% of shots attempted even as the three-pointer has come to define the analytics era. Perimeter shooters such as Steph Curry remain highly influential, and the growth in long-range attempts has seen three-pointers move to roughly 40% of shots in the competition, up from less than 10% in the early 1990s. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last year he wanted to address that rise without making “kneejerk” changes like moving back the three-point line, adding: "To be honest, I wish it was as simple as just moving the three-point line back, because then we would just do it," he told American broadcaster Colin Cowherd. "Part of the concern from the basketball folks is that if you move the three-point line back, you’ll end up just sort of clogging up the area under the basket, and that’s not such attractive basketball either."

Analysts and commentators warn the dunk-reward change could have unintended consequences: dunks occur more often after turnovers, which may encourage teams to gamble on steals to generate more dunks, and a three-point dunk could alter incentives on both defence and offence. The proposal is also expected to advantage taller players, with the article noting that "rather than high-leaping explosive guards, it is lumbering centres who tend to accumulate the most dunks, and rewarding their effectiveness may further disenfranchise undersized but skilful or athletic players."

Reaction on social media has been mixed and, in many quarters, critical; the plan was "widely condemned by the basketball community on social media, including by South East Melbourne Phoenix owner Romie Chaudhari." That opposition was not universal: Perth Wildcats owner Mark Arena — who, with Chaudhari, has been vocal in his criticism of the NBL’s leadership — praised the idea and the league's willingness to experiment, saying on X: "I think the Blitz is the perfect place to try new things. Some may work and some may fail but you can’t improve things without taking some risk. Personally I’m a fan of giving a really long shot for four points a go."

Rule variation already exists across global basketball: international competition governed by Fiba uses 10-minute quarters rather than the NBA’s 12 minutes and employs a three-point line closer to the basket, among other discrepancies. Since the three-point line’s introduction in the 1960s the core formula of the sport has largely stayed the same, though the Philippines Basketball Association introduced a four-point arc two years ago.

The NBL largely follows Fiba’s rulebook with only minor differences around timeouts and coaches’ challenges. The league says it remains keen to pursue the trial at some point in the future, which it described as an opportunity to run what would be elite basketball’s biggest data collection exercise on these potential rule levers, and the 2026-27 season starts next month.