Payton Pritchard just literally changed the NBA forever

Payton Pritchard has done something that very few NBA players can say they’ve achieved. He’s changed the game, quite literally. The Boston Celtics guard has never backed down from a chance to put up points, even if that chance comes from beyond halfcourt. During the 2024 NBA Finals, Pritchard sank a pair of last-second heaves to send TD Garden into a frenzy.

The moments were incredible, and his Game 5 buzzer-beater will be a part of Finals hype packages for years.

Other NBA players haven’t exactly shown the same willingness to try their luck from deep range as time expires.

Oftentimes, they’ll wait until the horn goes off before firing a half-hearted attempt towards the rim, in order to preserve their shooting percentages. You read that right. Players don’t even attempt to pull off one of the game’s most exciting players because they don’t want it to negatively affect their stats.

It’s a trend that NBA Twitter legend Rob Perez, aka “World Wide Wob,” coined the “Field Goal Percentage Savings Club.”

None of the above shots counted, which would, of course, disgust Pritchard.

“Soft mentally,” Pritchard said of this trend during an interview with Jay King of “The Athletic.” “Worrying about a shooting percentage. It’s very weak. You care about your individual shooting percentage more than winning. That’s so soft.”

The NBA's newest rule is obviously a nod to Payton Pritchard

Well, basketball players are going to have to find a new way to show us all whether or not they’re soft. According to a social post from the NBA Communications team, a rule changing the way “heaves” are statistically tracked will be put into place next season. Any field goal attempt that comes from 36 feet or further in the final three seconds of the opening three quarters will be counted as a “team miss” rather than an “individual miss.”

The only way this wouldn’t be the case is if the play originates in the frontcourt, meaning a player would’ve waited until the time was low before running to the halfcourt line to get a “free” shot without worrying about the miss counting against them.

NBA officials wasted no time getting the ball rolling on this change after seeing the sort of moments Pritchard delivered with his fearlessness.

Months after the Finals came to a close, the league announced that it would test the above rule in the G-League for the 2024-25 campaign. The trial run was clearly a success if the NBA is making the change so quickly.

It truthfully feels long overdue. The rule should make late-quarter stretches of games far more exciting with this scenario, where both players and fans win. Maybe they should just change the name from a “heave” to a “Pritchard,” though. It just seems more appropriate.