CLEVELAND – An Ohio man created an alternative ending for basketball games to eliminate late-game intentional fouling and improve flow.
Middletown native Nick Elam was watching a North Carolina State/Virginia Tech basketball game in 2007 when he came up with an idea.
“’What would happen if you just got rid of the clock at the end of the game?’” asked Elam.
Late-game intentional fouling has become an infamous strategy for teams, something Elam thought takes away from the sport.
“What should be the most exciting part of the game, you just lose all the athleticism, all the fluidity,” said Elam. “The air just goes out of the arena.”
That’s how his idea for the Elam Ending was born. When the clock reaches a certain point late in the game, the clock shuts off at the first dead ball. The end of the game is determined by a target score.
Whichever team hits it first wins.
“I actually started to think, ‘Wow this could work, I think this idea is necessary, it’s sound, that it has the potential to be very cool.’”
It took him 10 years to convince the basketball community the same. In 2017, The Basketball Tournament (TBT) used the Elam Ending. In 2020, the NBA reached out.
“They told me in conversations with the players association, the players see a lot of merit in this idea of an untimed finish to game,” said Elam. “They told me they were going to implement the ending in the All-Star Game in Chicago.”
Now, two years later, the NBA All-Star game will be played in Cleveland with the Elam Ending. Elam’s hoping for a hometown hero to win the game.
“It’s fun to think about who might make that winning shot,” said Elam. “I’m hoping to see Darius Garland or Jarrett Allen or LeBron make that shot. I think the fans would eat that up.”
Tip off for the All-Star Game is Sunday at 8 p.m.